


Love is Poison

by LadyConstellation



Series: Love is Miraculous [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, also on Wattpad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-21 22:53:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 66,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17651363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyConstellation/pseuds/LadyConstellation
Summary: It's been three whole years since Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated HawkMoth. Well, that's what they thought anyway. After getting her heart broken by Adrien, Marinette left to go to college in Bejing. However, when she returns, she and Chat Noir find that HawkMoth has come back, and his akumas are more dangerous than ever.But that isn't the only thing that's changed. Adrien is a blossoming movie star in Paris, torn between his feelings for his girlfriend, Lucie, and his remaining feelings for both Ladybug and Marinette. Which will win out? And who will get hurt in the process?





	1. Chapter 1

Coming home to Paris felt awkward. There was nothing more to say about that. Marinette still couldn't believe that she had nearly finished college and would be graduating from BIFT in the spring. The whole thing felt surreal, and honestly, really weird. Marinette could still vividly remember her first year of high school, meeting Adrien, falling in love, and having her heart broken. 

Leaning back in the leather seat, Marinette snuggled into the blue blanket that the airline had provided, and propped her feet up on her carry-on and using the table as her workspace so she could sketch her latest design. A floor-length shimmery dress took place under her pencil as she fiddled with the neckline. Tapping the pencil along her lips, she sketched a sweetheart neckline with a plunging back and a train. Perfect. This would be the design she would present to secure her internship for the next semester. 

She longed to get her sewing machine and make this dress come to life, and she could almost feel the silk underneath her hands. Marinette had hoped that it would catch the eye of a famous designer at Paris Fashion Week, someone like Gabriel Agreste. She had taken off home as soon as finals had ended, hoping that two weeks would be enough to create the dress and find someone to wear it too. 

She sighed, staring out the window at the glimmering lights of Bejing. If she was honest with herself, the excitement of going home was only partly because of fashion week. Going home meant seeing Adrien for the first time in nearly a year. As much as she had tried to will her stubborn heart into giving up on Adrien when they went their separate ways three years ago, but of course she hadn't quite managed it. Yes, they had kept in touch, but it felt different now that they weren't even on the same continent for three quarters of the year. She'd even heard rumors that he was dating someone, but she'd never managed to find out if there was any truth to that. One thing was for sure, though, Adrien only saw her as a friend. That had never changed. 

"What's with that face, Marinette?" Tikki asked softly from the purse lying in her lap. "You look sad." 

Shrugging, Marinette gave Tikki a half-hearted smile. Even when no one was there for her, Marinette knew that she could always count on Tikki. Of course, there hadn't been many calls for superheroes lately, since she and Chat Noir had defeated Hawkmoth all those years ago. But Marinette couldn't help but feel that the trouble wasn't over yet. 

"Nothing," she replied, lightly stroking the top of Tikki's head. "Just thinking." 

"About Adrien?" Tikki asked a little too knowingly. Marinette's cheeks burned hot at her kwamis accurate assessment as she fumbled awkwardly for an answer. 

"Yes... I mean no... I mean... um... what were we talking about again?" 

Tikki giggled. "Oh come on, you always look that way when you think about him lately." 

"Like what?!" Marinette exclaimed defensively. 

"Slightly desperate, with a touch of misery..." Tikki trailed off. 

"I just miss him," Marinette sighed, closing her sketchbook and sticking it back into her bag. "I knew that going to different colleges would be hard. I just didn't know how hard." 

Nodding, Tikki gave Marinette's finger an encouraging squeeze. "You guys talked for almost two hours the last time he called. He'll be so happy you're home. Just wait and see." 

"I just hope you're right Tikki." Marinette smiled, her heart lifting a little bit. "And hopefully I'll be staying in Paris for my internship, so I'll be able to see him more often." 

Tikki nodded wisely, "Absolutely. It'll all work out. You'll see." 

Marinette settled back into her seat again, doodling idly on the edge of her page. The airplane bounced gently as it began to take off and soon her eyelids began to drop. Her pencil gradually stilled and her eyelids began to drop. 

The Eiffel Tower always looked the most beautiful at night. Marinette, as Ladybug, stood atop the Théâtre des Champs Elyées, watching the lights twinkle daintily in the dark swirls of blue and purple. 

"Good to see you, M'lady. It's been a long time." 

Marinette jumped so badly she nearly dropped her yo-yo. Turning, she saw the familiar and comforting glow of green eyes standing out harshly in the darkness behind her. 

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Chat." She scolded, attempting and failing to calm her racing pulse. Chat Noir just gave her his signature lopsided smile and leaped to her side. 

Marinette didn't know what she was thinking. In fact, she wasn't sure if she was thinking at all. She practically threw herself at him, pressing her lips against his. When she pulled away, both she and Chat were blushing and she buried her face in his neck. "I missed you." 

"I can't believe you're really here. I feel like if I move, you'll vanish." Chat smiled, pressing a light kiss to her nose. 

Marinette's lips quirked up slightly, "Is that you're way of saying that you missed me?" 

"Yeah, I guess it is." Chat Noir gave her another smile and a wink before his expression sobered, "You did leave me after all." 

Shaking her head, Marinette gazed sadly back out at the Seine. "Chat Noir, you've got to know that it wasn't you I was leaving behind. And I'm so, so sorry that you felt that way. It was because of something else." 

"Something?" Chat asked with a questioning glance, "or someone?" 

Marinette sighed, turning back to him with an exasperated expression. "Does it really matter? I couldn't stay in Paris. I felt trapped here in Paris. I would have been stuck here forever waiting for–" 

She stopped herself before she could make the mistake of saying Adrien's name. She knew that she had already revealed too much. The day of high school graduation, she had told herself that she would tell Adrien the truth of how she felt about him. But her resolve immediately crumbled once she saw Catherine, the new girl in their class, kiss him. She had barely been able to manage a hug and a promise to keep in touch. 

"For Adrien?" Chat finished her thought. Marinette's heart thumped so hard she swore it was going to beat out of her chest. How had he known?

"You didn't need to run." he continued when her silence confirmed his guess. "He's a lot closer then you think Mari, and he misses you too." 

The announcement from the flight attendant stating that they'd landed violently yanked her out of her dream. She looked around wildly, but Chat Noir wasn't there. Of course, he wasn't. She hadn't seen him in years. And there was no way he would have known the real reason she'd left for school in Bejing. 

Shaking her head to clear the last clinging memories of the dream away, Marinette grabbed her bags and moved towards the exit. She stepped off the platform, but before she could get very far, her foot caught on the edge and she went sprawling out towards the ground. 

"Woah, easy there." 

A pair of strong, steady arms went out and grabbed her waist to keep her from falling face first onto the floor. 

"I gotcha." 

Marinette glanced up, her heart thumping even harder when she realized that it was Adrien who had rescued her from her fall. She felt her cheeks heating up slightly, but she couldn't decide on whether it was her clumsiness or Adrien's proximity to her that had brought the blush on. 

"Good to see you too, Mari, but there's no reason to run right into me." Adrien smiled, taking her suitcases from her while still holding onto her waist with the other hand, probably to keep her from falling again. "So, how was Bejing?" 

"Great," Marinette somehow managed, her chest suddenly feeling incredibly tight. "But it's always good to be home." 

Adrien glanced at her, something Marinette couldn't quite read flashing briefly across his face. It was gone before Marinette could analyze it any further. 

"Well," Adrien said, smiling and nudging her in the shoulder, "It's good to have you home." He replied, letting go of her waist and starting up the stairs. When Marinette stayed rooted to the spot at the bottom of the steps, Adrien turned back and offered her one of his signature smiles that made her heart feel like was melting right down to her feet. Oh man... she was in big trouble. 

"Come on, you're parents are waiting for you inside."


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien wasn't really sure what he had expected. He had known for months that he would be the one to pick Marinette up from the airport and somehow he had imagined her leaping out of the train and into his arms and he'd spin her around and around..., but, awkwardly enough, nothing had happened. He had been taken so off guard by her unexpected beauty that hadn't been there quite as much when they had been in high school. Sure, she had been pretty before, but she was starting to look gorgeous. Now he felt as if he could hardly look her in the eye anymore. Being around her suddenly made him nervous where it hadn't usually before. She looked so different. Instead of her normal high school pigtails, she had long flowing black hair down to the small of her back and her big eyes looked much bluer and bigger than they had before. Not to mention her figure that wasn't exactly concealed by blue jean shorts and a black and white striped sweater. 

He immediately shook the thought out of his head. It didn't matter what his initial reaction to her was. To be honest, he was still pinning for Ladybug. 

Involuntarily, he let out a loud sigh, loud enough for Marinette to hear. Thankfully she was kind enough not to say anything. Ladybug had left without warning three years ago, and Paris just hadn't felt the same without her. She had been his best friend, his partner in crime– or anti-crime for that matter– and he kept waiting for her to come back but she never did. He had decided that it would be best to move on from the delusion that he and Ladybug could ever be a couple, and he had found himself a nice girlfriend named Lucie. She seemed really nice and they'd been dating for a couple months so far. He just kept waiting for the relationship to feel so empty. 

"So," Marinette started, "What have you been up to while I've been gone?" This abruptly pulled him out of his thoughts. When Adrien glanced over at her at her again, he nearly had a heart attack once again. She was absolutely strikingly beautiful. 

"Well, since Dad has come back from the hospital, he hasn't been breathing down my neck quite as much." Adrien laughed, but then sobered up for a moment. His father had gotten hurt during Hawkmoth's last and largest attack ever, and he still hadn't recovered. But that had been years and years ago. "I'm still modeling, but I've found that acting is really my passion. Speaking of that," 

Adrien pulled out his camera and started filming, "How does it feel to be home after three whole years abroad?" 

Marinette laughed and tried to shove the camera out of her face but it was to no avail. "It feels weird. And put that camera away!" 

"Not a chance, Mari. I still have so much more to ask you! Nino specifically asked me to film you coming home. I'm not going to disappoint him! So, now that you're home, what will your next move be?" 

"Honestly? I just want to focus on getting that design internship. I still need to find a model who will wear this dress for me that I've designed." 

Adrien perked up at the mention of modeling. "As much as I would love to model it for you, I must decline, Marinette. And besides, I'm not sure I'd be curvy enough to wear a dress."

Again, Marinette burst out into laughter as she playfully shoved his shoulder. "It's okay. I'm not so sure it would look the most flattering on you anyways."

He grinned as he zoomed in on her face a little bit more. "I know someone who could model it for you though I think. Of course, she's been a bit over-booked as of late. But I'm sure that if I asked nicely, she'd be ecstatic about wearing the dress for your internship." 

"Great!" Marinette exclaimed, "Who is it?" 

"My girlfriend, Lucie." 

It was instantaneous. As soon as he said those words, the beautiful light that almost always shone in her eyes disappeared as though someone had turned off the light switch. Just that alone caused Adrien's heart to sink with despair. He had said the wrong thing, that much was clear. The problem was, he wasn't sure what was so wrong about it. 

"You know what?" Marinette finally said. "I think I'll be just fine. I think I'll like the challenge of finding someone on my own. I could expand my network doing it that way." 

Adrien turned off the camera and nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure. That's fine." He was just about to open his mouth to say something else, but at that moment, they rounded the corner and a group of people jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" 

"ALYA!" Marinette shrieked as she dropped her things and flew directly into her best friends arms, and soon enough, there weren't enough hugs to go around. Even Adrien got a hug from Marinette's mom at least twice, and he wasn't sure why. 

"I brought some éclairs!" Marinette's father exclaimed and everyone dove for the delicious box of home-made pastries. Adrien had to admit, no one could bake like Mr. Dupain-Cheng could. Well, except Marinette, her pastries were to die for...

Again, he shook the thought out fo his head. He was just happy to see her, that's all. 

"The four of us need to get together, just like old times," Nino said as he reached out for Alya's hand, and only then did Marinette catch the large diamond ring settled on her left-hand finger. Marinette shrieked again and hugged the two of them to the point where Adrien thought she might break them. 

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! You two are engaged?! When?! How?! Why didn't you tell me?!" 

Adrien grinned as he watched Marinette ogle over Alya's sparkling ring. Alya and Nino had been dating on and off since high school, and they had finally managed to go steady for a couple years, and now they were making it official. The best part was that Adrien got to hide in the bushes and take photos while the whole thing was happening. Well, admittedly he had found a better vantage point in the tree as Chat Noir, but Nino never needed to know that. Especially because he almost had been caught by Nino and barely de-transformed in time. That had very nearly been a super sticky situation. 

"So what do you guys say?" Adrien asked after Marinette had finally stopped squealing. "The four of us hanging out?" 

"I... uh... we... uh... um..." Marinette seemed to be at a sudden loss for words, so Adrien simply put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. 

"Hanging out it is. Friday? The usual place?" 

Marinette nodded and Adrien smiled whilst simultaneously trying to bat away Plagg, his kwami, whose whiskers were tickling his ears. "Adrieeeennnn!" Plagg whined quietly so that only he could hear. "I'm hungryyyyy. I neeeeed Camembert. Right nowwwww." 

"Why are you always so needy?" Adrien nearly hissed back at him but then had to shake himself out of it. He had received his Miraculous years ago now and the Chat Noir portion of him was actually just a part of him now. He had become an expert at hiding that half of himself, but there were still times when the cat had to take over. 

Plagg continued tickling his ear with his whiskers until Adrien finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Sorry guys, we'll have to catch up later. I have some... urgent matters to attend to." 

"Oh, okay," Marinette said, but then she smiled. "I guess we'll see you on Friday, then."

Adrien practically hurried out there and stepped into the comforting embrace of the night. When no one was looking, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a piece of cheese for his silly feline kwami. 

"Plagg, you're going to make me go broke," Adrien sighed furiously scratched his ear to make the tickle go away. "I'm out on my own now, you know." 

"I can't help that it tastes so good!" Plagg cried as he munched on a piece of cheese after piece of cheese. "And you've got to stop being such a downer. Ladybug is gone, and she isn't going to come back!" 

With a scowl, Adrien swatted at Plagg, but he managed to dodge just out of reach. "It's been a few years, I know. But you don't have to rub it in my face like that. I just thought..." He sighed as he slumped down on the brick wall behind him. "I just thought we had something together. I've never met another girl like her. I don't understand why she had to leave." 

The kwami continued to munch on his cheese, completely ignoring Adrien's brokenhearted spiel as he always did. Plagg was... more or less indifferent to everything unless it concerned cheese of sun-bathing. He couldn't help but wonder what Ladybug's kwami was like.

"Plagg claws out!" 

"But wait I haven't finished my cheese!!!!" Plagg cried before being sucked in towards the ring and disappearing. 

Soon enough, Adrien was outfitted as Chat Noir and he leaped high as he could from building to building until he made it to the very last place he had ever seen Ladybug– a rooftop had a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower. Admittedly, he came here often. It made him feel more connected to Ladybug. 

Making himself comfortable on the platform, Adrien sighed as he gazed down at the people below. Plagg was right. He really needed to let go. He knew that. He needed to let Ladybug go.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, what did you expect to happen, girl?" Alya demanded, sitting down on the edge of the bed in Marinette's old room. It hadn't changed much over the past few years, which Marinette found oddly comforting. Even if her entire world had turned upside down, her parents' home was still the same. 

"I don't know." Marinette groaned while covering her eyes with the pillow. "I mean it's not like I didn't date while I was in Bejing, but..."

"But you're still in love with Adrien." Alya finished, shaking her head with the wry smile. "I hate to say this, but you really need to the move on." 

Marinette let out a deep sigh. She knew that Alya was right, but letting Adrien go was like trying to let go of her identity as Ladybug. She had missed filling that role so much while she was in Bejing, sometimes she ached right down to her bones. But that was beside the point. She had always thought that someday she and Adrien would find a way to be together. 

"So when are you and Nino getting married?" Marinette asked, deliberately changing the subject away from her nearly nonexistent love life. "Have you two set the date?"

Alya looked as though she wanted to argue the point some more but she just shook her head with the smile. 

"Yeah, we have. Um... January 16th," she replied, caressing her ring with the happy little smile which always left Marinette out in the cold feeling left out and inexperienced. "And you just have to be the maid of honor! And I want you to the design the dresses, including mine." 

This caused Marinette to smile. "I'd love to. You know I wouldn't miss your wedding for anything in the world." 

Alya stood up and hugged Marinette close. "Good, you'd better not. I have to go meet up with Nino but we'll totally have a girls night now that you're home, okay?" 

"Okay," Marinette replied with a little laugh. "I'll see you soon." 

As soon as Alya vanished down the stairs, Marinette felt an unexpected wave of loneliness harshly crashing into her. She needed to get away, to not be Marinette for a while. 

"Tikki spots on," Marinette said softly, opening her purse. Tikki burst out with an eager smile. zooming happily towards Marinette. A smile crept up on Marinette's own face as she changed into Ladybug. Oh, how she had missed this...

Opening her balcony door, she threw her yo-yo at the nearest chimney and swung over to her favorite spot in all of Paris.

∞ ∞ ∞

The Eiffel Tower glittered cheerfully in the snowy darkness as Marinette landed softly on the rooftop. She had come here often to think before leaving Paris and this was the last place she'd seen... 

"Chat" she breathed in delight, as though thinking about him had brought him here. He turned, his green eyes glittering in the darkness. 

"Hello, M'lady." he grinned, moving out of the shadows towards her. He looked surprised to see her, excitement gleaming in his eyes. 

Marinette stared at him. He was broader through his shoulders than she remembered. Taller and more solid too, every line of his taut muscles showing through his black leather suit. Her heart jumped a little bit, but the moment was ruined when Chat tripped over his tail and landed face first in front of her. 

"Nice to see you too," he groaned, rolling over onto his back and smiling sheepishly up at her. 

"And I thought cats always landed on their feet," Marinette giggled, helping him up. Even though so much of her life had changed, Chat Noir was still the same dork he had always been. She had missed him, he was her partner and, in spite of his antics, her best friend. 

"I was distracted," he chuckled. "By a beautiful woman. I've missed you, Ladybug." 

Marinette smiled, lowering her eyes to hide the light pink in her cheeks. Chat Noir's flattery really was sweet, even if he was only playing with her. 

"I've missed you too, Chat," She giggled, kissing her cheek lightly. "Have you been keeping Paris safe without me?" 

Chat shrugged and she could see the light blush spreading over his cheek, "Well, I haven't really had to. It's been pretty quiet these last three years." 

Marinette glanced up into Chat's face as he drew himself closer. His jaw was stronger than she remembered, the boy she had left had become a man while she was away. The thought alone made her sad. Even her partner had changed. Then again, so had she. 

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?" Chat asked suddenly, extending his hand out to her. Hesitating, Marinette tilted her head slightly. 

"What did you have in mind?" 

Chat's grin widened. "Oh come on, M'lady. Where's your sense of adventure? Don't you trust me anymore?" 

Marinette smiled and nodded, reaching out and sliding her hand into his. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way," she replied, following Chat as he jumped from the next rooftop and into the Paris night.


	4. Chapter 4

If felt as if he had floated inside his own dream world. Here he was, mourning over the loss of his beloved Ladybug, and suddenly she showed up out of thin air. All he wanted to do was tackle her and shower her in kisses, but he needed to keep his cool– after all, he didn't want to end up scaring her away on their first night back together. 

He sighed happily as they left from rooftop to rooftop just like they had in the years past. When they had to make a particularly large leap, Adrien extended his rod to launch them across the gap. It came as almost second nature to him and he could probably navigate this city with his eyes closed. 

Adrien grinned and stopped suddenly as he turned to face Ladybug. Immediately, he became wrapped up in those big, blue eyes of hers. Those were still the same eyes he had fallen head over heels for years ago, and even now, nothing had changed. 

"Close your eyes," Adrien instructed, and as always, Ladybug just stared back at him dubiously. 

"If you're suggesting it, then it must be a bad idea." 

"I'm serious, M'lady. I promise that you won't regret." He picked her hand and kissed her dainty polka-dotted fingers, but immediately she pulled her hand away and put a delicate finger to her nose. 

Snubbed again. That hadn't changed either. Except for that mysterious kiss on the cheek...

"Chat Noir, when are you going to learn?" 

"Persistence killed the cat right, right?" 

Ladybug laughed the sadness that had previously been in her eyes seemingly forgotten. "Well, I suppose if that doesn't, then your curiosity sure will. Fine, I'll close my eyes, but I swear if you try to kiss again, I will slap your arm." 

Adrien chuckled and picked Ladybug up in his arms as she hesitantly closed her eyes. "Last time I tried, I got pushed back into a pool. I don't want to end up there again." his expression fell now that he knew Ladybug really couldn't see it. He wanted so desperately for her to return all his feelings, but there now seemed that there was no chance of that. Perhaps it was a good thing that he was seeing someone now. Ladybug would always be his best friend, but she could never be anything more than that because she would never give him the chance. 

But before he could dwell on that thought for long, he leaped into the air and felt Ladybug's body stiffen against his chest. Still, she trusted him enough not to open her eyes as they flew across the city until they finally landed on the hub and spindle of the Big Wheel at Place de las Concorde. The whole city looked to be lit up and sparkling, perhaps even brighter than the stars that twinkled in the sky. Down below, the locals celebrated with carnival festivals and fireworks that welcomed the much-anticipated winter holidays. 

"You can open your eyes now," Adrien said with a giant grin on his face. "But you should be careful not to lose your balance." 

Ladybug opened her eyes and gasped, her eyes traveling up the spokes of the moving Ferris Wheel. "Wow! It's beautiful up here..."

"Mommy, Daddy, look! It's Chat Noir and Ladybug!" a little voice said as it made it's turn around the wheel, but the voice quickly disappeared and the two found themselves mostly alone. 

"Happy that you trusted me?" Adrien teased as he moved over to make room for Ladybug. He really liked how she wasn't afraid of heights. 

"I will admit that you're semi-trustworthy," she said teasingly, "though, after that mudcrab incident, I'm not sure how much I can trust you at all."

His eyebrows rose and rose until he started wondering whether they were higher than the Eiffel Tower. "You're really still holding that over me? I didn't realize that the fisherman had been akumatized. All I wanted to do was to show you some cool crabs! It's totally not my fault."

"Kitty, they were the size of a horse." 

Okay, so maybe he deserved that one. "You really think I would have earned your trust back after Hawkmoth."

"You saved my life, Chat," she replied softly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for what you did for me that day. I really did think that Hawkmoth was going to kill me then steal my Miraculous." 

Adrien sobered as his smile dropped. That night had been scary and altogether dreadful. "That really was an awful night, wasn't it?" he said so quietly that he thought Ladybug might not even be able to hear him. He stretched his hand out in front of him and flexed his fingers, frowning at the memory of what he had to do in order to stop Hawkmoth. Never in his time as Chat Noir did he know that his cataclysm power could cause so much destruction. He had taken down an entire cathedral, reducing it all to rubble, and destroyed Hawkmoth while he was at it. Or at least that was what he had hoped. No one had since found Hawkmoth's body, but the villain hadn't shown his face since that day. 

"Someone I really care about got hurt that night." Adrien continued, keeping his voice quiet as he stared out on the twinkling city that he had promised to protect. "I'm always afraid that it might have been my fault." 

"Oh god no, don't say that," Ladybug murmured soothingly. "Hawkmoth akumatized an entire army! You did what you had to do." 

Still, her words did nothing to console him. For three years, three whole years, he had come to live with this guilt. "That's why you left? Wasn't it? You left because of what I did." 

"No!" she cried, "I swear, Chat, I didn't. You had nothing to do with it. It was... well, it's difficult to say without compromising my identity, but I left because of someone else. I left because I felt as if I just couldn't stand it anymore. But I'm back now, and things can be just like they used to be. I can promise that I'm not going to go anywhere, and if I do, I'll owe you a real goodbye that time." 

Neither of them said anything for a long time. Instead, they stared out over the city, sitting side by side on the unmoving hub while the rest of the wheel spun in circles around them. Adrien couldn't imagine ever leaving Paris. This was his home and he loved it with all his heart. Everything he loved was here– his father, his friends, and now Ladybug was back... He couldn't imagine must have happened in order for Ladybug to be willing to leave all of that behind. 

"I kept looking for Hawkmoth's Miraculous in your absence," Adrien said slowly. "I've searched every square inch of Paris and I still can't find it anywhere. If it gets in the wrong hands..."

Ladybug let out a long breath. "We'd better hope that the right person finds it this time." 

He nodded but paused and turned to look at her. So much of her face was covered by her red and black polka dot mask, and he couldn't even begin to guess her identity even if he tried. 

"Tell me who you really are," Adrien requested for what felt like the thousandth time since she met her. "You know me well enough to know that I'll take your secret to my grave." 

"That's the problem," Ladybug said, shaking her head and tugging the collar of his suit down slightly to reveal what he knew was a scar. "Sure, these secrets are meant to remain secrets, but I can't have you getting hurt because I was stupid enough to tell you something I shouldn't have." 

Snubbed again and again in every direction. Why wouldn't Ladybug trust him? He was trustworthy. He would never tell her secret even if he was tortured until his very last breath. But she just wouldn't trust him. Nothing had changed. 

As excited as he felt to be around her just minutes before, now all he felt was downcast and disappointed. Nothing could ever change between them no matter how much he wanted it to. So he stood up and extended his rod in preparation to make the jump that would help propel him across the city of Paris. 

"Yeah, well that person I told you about? I need to go check on them. I'll catch you later, Ladybug." 

He saluted her and before she could reply, he jumped off the hub and effortlessly made his way from building to building, from rooftop to rooftop, until he melted into the shadows of an alleyway without being seen. From there, he transformed from Chat Noir to Adrien and hid Plagg in his backpack. Of course, the kwami fell fast asleep as soon as he could. 

Unsurprisingly, Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste, installed new security measures on the manor since his accident, including a code at the gate and a fingerprint scanner at the doorway. No one could go in or out unless Gabriel wanted them to. 

Both that gate and the door opened for him, and despite the fact that it was getting late, he found Gabriel's assistant, Nathalie, at the desk in the corner. She tiredly glanced up as he approached. 

"Hello Adrien, I didn't know that you were coming by tonight." Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, like it never had while he was growing up, either. 

"Can't I stop by for a surprise visit every now and again?" Adrien chuckled, "Where is he." 

"In the study, I believe. Do you wish for me to escort you?" She asked in the same monotone voice that she always had. 

Adrien shook his head. "I've lived here long enough to be able to find it on my own. But thanks." 

His feet had memorized the path by now as he made his way across the smooth marble floor and to the double oak doors that lead to his father's study. Upon stepping inside, the study appeared empty, so he thought he might wait until his father returned. He found himself gazing up at the large, Egyptian style portrait of his mother, and like always, he couldn't stop himself from smiling. She looked just like Adrien– the same blonde hair, same green eyes, same crooked smile. Sometimes he wondered if he really had any relation with his dad at all. If only Emilie hadn't died so young...

"Adrien!" a surprised female voice sounded behind him, "What are you doing here?" 

He spun around and his eyes widened in equal surprise as he took in the tall blonde woman with perfect white teeth and perfect symmetry in every part of her face. "Lucie! I could ask you the same question! I thought that you were busy modeling in America." 

To his surprise, just seeing Lucie helped soften his broken heart and engulfing her in a large hug helped take his mind off of Ladybug completely. 

"Well, I was in America," Lucie squealed, "but now I'm back. Sorry I didn't call. I thought that I should drop by and visit your father first to see how he's doing. Unfortunately, he's still in the same condition as before... but his spirits are lifted considerably since the last time I saw him."

How sweet... what other women would come by just to check on his father before meeting up with their boyfriend first? Lucie really was a sweetheart and that's what he liked about her. 

"Ah, talking about me behind my back, I see..." a slick masculine voice said behind him and Adrien turned to see Gabriel enter the large study in his wheelchair. Just the sight of him caused guilt to creep up into his heart all over again. According to the doctors that had performed hours and hours of surgery on him, Gabriel had been smashed during the fight with Hawkmoth and became paralyzed from the waist down. Although he looked much frailer, he still held an air of authority that Adrien had never seen in anyone else. 

"How are you, Dad?" Adrien asked rather stiffly.

Gabriel adjusted his glasses and gave him a rare but genuine smile. "Better than I have been in a long time. You have a great girlfriend, here, Adrien. You could learn a thing or two from her." 

"I'm sure I could," he chuckled, "Hot chocolate, anybody? Now that we're all together, I think that what we need most is to start up a fire and bust out the hot chocolate."

"Wonderful idea, Adrien," Gabriel replied, seemingly a little more cheerful and friendly then he usually acted towards him. "I'll put Nathalie right on it." 

He wheeled out of the room once more and when Adrien found himself alone with Lucie, he reached out and took her hand. To his surprise, her hand felt icy to the touch and she smelled like... well, he wasn't sure why, but she smelled like a coat closet for some strange reason. Musty and overpowering. 

"You definitely need to warm yourself by the fire," Adrien said, forcing himself to continue holding her hand even when the contact continued to sting his skin. 

"But you haven't even kissed me yet," Lucie pouted and Adrien couldn't help but hesitate. Somehow, it felt wrong to kiss her after being around Ladybug. He found that he didn't really... want to kiss her. But then he remembered the snub after snub that received from Ladybug and reminded himself that she wasn't interested anyway. So he leaned in and gave Lucie a gentle peck on the lips and like always, he felt nothing. Surely he just needed to give their relationship more time...

Lucie smiled and squeezed his hand. "That's better. Now we'd better not keep your dad waiting." 

Adrien returned her smile even though that smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "That would definitely be a bad idea. Come on, let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

Three nights later, Marinette sat in her bedroom, watching the lights of Paris glimmering outside. She had replayed her conversation with Chat Noir over and over and over again in her head, wondering if she had done the right thing by not telling him.

"Why didn't you tell him, Marinette?" Tikki said impatiently. They had been talking about it non-stop and Tikki refused to let it go. "You know that you can trust Chat Noir with your life, he's saved you more than once."

Shaking her head, Marinette slipped into her pajamas and curled up underneath the soft quilted blankets on her bed. It was hard to explain even to herself why she hadn't trusted her partner with her identity after all this time. Her original excuse had been that it was too dangerous. But time and time again, Chat Noir had proven himself trustworthy, even bringing down a whole building to save her life. No, it definitely wasn't that she didn't trust him.

"You're afraid that if he knew who you really are, he would treat you differently," Tikki said shrewdly, settling herself into the cozy space next to Marinette's head on the pillow. "But what I don't understand is why."

Marinette could hardly explain it to herself. Part of her feared that if Chat Noir knew that she was just clumsy, awkward, unlucky Marinette, he wouldn't see her the same way anymore. She liked the confidence being Ladybug gave her. Being known only as her alter ego, even by Chat Noir, gave her freedom and confidence she didn't feel when she was plain old Marinette.

"Surely you know, Marinette, you're the same person, with or without the mask," Tikki said sleepily, they had been together so long, it was almost as though Tikki could read Marinette's mind. "Why do you hide that part of you so much? Marinette is Ladybug, there's no difference whether you wear the mask or not. You're amazing either way."

Smiling sheepishly, Marinette ran her fingers through her loose hair. She could hardly dare to believe her kwami's words, but it felt good to hear them all the same.

"Thanks, Tikki."

Marinette closed her eyes, drifting slowly in and out of dreams before settling down into a deep, deep sleep. Her mind, unfortunately, choose to take you back to the horrible day nearly three years ago when Hawkmoth had made the entire city of Paris his army. Her heart raced as she was backed into a corner of a dim cathedral, Hawkmoth bearing down on her. She didn't feel brave at that moment. All she felt was trapped.

Suddenly, the door burst inward on its hinges and Chat Noir leaped into the room. The force of the doors flying open had extinguished the candles and the only thing that Marinette could make out in the darkness were Chat's glowing green eyes.

"Let me let you in on a little secret," he snarled, and for a brief moment, she could see the shine of his bright white teeth. "Cats are very protective of what belongs to them. And when you hurt those things, well..."

He chuckled darkly, the sound sending a chill up Marinette's spine. "It doesn't end well."

With that, he lunged, knocking Hawkmoth backward into the wall and holding him back from attacking for a few moments.

"Run, M'lady!" Chat bellowed. She didn't need telling twice, sprinting towards the door. She felt rather than saw Chat Noir pause behind her and raise his hand to the brick wall of the ancient cathedral. In an instant, the whole thing collapsed inward as his cataclysm power took hold, burying Hawkmoth alive. A single Akuma rising from the rubble as it fell...

The rumble of bricks filled her ears until Marinette sat bolt upright in bed, realizing that the noise wasn't just part of the dream. Throwing the covers off her legs, Marinette dashed to her window to see a darkness so complete it blotted all the light out in the city, radiating outwards towards the Eiffel Tower.

"What was that?" she murmured, staring for a moment longer. As though in answer to Marinette's question, the darkness exploded with hundreds of small black butterflies, their wings glowing with jagged purple stripes.

"Hawkmoth?!" she gasped. "How?!"

Without giving herself any more time to consider it, she shrieked, "Tikki spots on!"

As soon as the transformation was complete, Marinette dove from her window, swinging herself over to the nearest rooftop and then continuing towards the danger.

"Well, glad you could make it." Chat Noir chuckled as he caught up with her on the rooftop of the Louvre. "This will be just like old times."

Marinette rolled her eyes as the huge glass pyramid in the middle of the Louvre plaza shattered. "Does this really look like old times to you? Hawkmoth only ever showed himself once before and we both almost died. So why is this happening now?"

"I don't know," Chat shrugged, his face uncharacteristically serious. "Now come on, let's see if we can get him to let the cat out of the bag."

Marinette couldn't help but giggle but refused to dignify his joke with a comment as they leaped towards the Eiffel Tower. But as they drew closer, the storm of dark butterflies had vanished as quickly as they had come.

"Okay, so call me crazy, and I know that we've both seen some pretty strange things over the years," Chat began slowly, "with Mr. Pigeon and all but that..."

"Was way weirder than usual." Marinette finished his sentence for him. "What do you think that was all about?"

Chat just shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine, M'lady. But we should be on our guard from now on. Hawkmoth is back and if what happened last time is any indication, we're in for one hell of a fight."

Marinette nodded, swallowing hard. "We should search for clues here at the Eiffel Tower. We have to start somewhere."

Chat nodded, leaping down the Louvre plaza as Marinette followed his lead. They crossed over to the Eiffel Tower, but there was a sign that the phantom storm had ever been there.

"Why did it smash the Louvre Pyramid but nothing else?" Marinette asked, staring around at the eerily silent square. The whole situation made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Something was very wrong.

Chat's shrewd gaze landed on her and he lifted a shoulder. "I don't know. But since it's the only thing that was destroyed, I bet we'll find a clue as to what's going on in there."

Nodding, Marinette pulled out her yo-yo again, "Let's go check it out."


	6. Chapter 6

The night appeared to be deadly silent, all except for the faint creaking of the shards of glass from the Louvre Pyramid about to fall and smash into the ground. He remembered coming here before on a school field trip, but what was so special about it that it attracted the attention of Hawkmoth himself?

He continued leading them through the mess of glass and sifted the shards of glass around with his metal rod. There appeared to be no trace that the black butterflies had ever been here except that he had seen them himself. 

"Look at this," Ladybug said as she pointed to several items knocked down from the desk, one of them including a bundle of pamphlets that had traveled with the butterflies, leaving something of a trail behind. However, the trail ended when the last pamphlet had fallen to the ground. 

Adrien finally entertained the thought that he had tried so hard to put away. "What do you think happened to Hawkmoth? I thought we defeated him." 

"Yeah, so did I," she replied, now leading him through the pyramid. Without good vision in the dark, she stumbled over something and he caught her just in time, their faces just inches from one another. "Well, hello, M'lady," Adrien said with a wink. "If you wanted to get me alone in the dark, all you had to do was ask." 

Ladybug rolled her eyes and pushed him away, "This is serious, Chat." 

"I am serious. Why don't we put away our costumes and go on a real date? Not one of these late night Sherlock excursions." 

"I hope you're not considering these dates." Ladybug grinned. "Because if you are, you'll be highly disappointed." 

They quieted as they continued down the hallway and into a large, spacious room. On the door frame, Adrien ran his fingers over a glimmery substance in the wood and pulled his hand away to find the same glimmer coating his black glove. 

"What do you think this is?" Adrien asked as he held his hand out to Ladybug, but she only scowled playfully at him and put her hands on her hips. Although he knew he shouldn't be, he couldn't help but let his eyes flick from her tiny waist to her gorgeous pink lips. 

"Kitty, I can't see in the dark, remember? So what is it?"

He shrugged and rolled the substance between his two fingers, leaning forward to inspect it closer. "Sparkles? Or maybe something more like a shimmer. Like that stuff, girls wear on their eyes."

Ladybug snorted with laughter, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You mean eyeshadow? It might have come from the butterflies' wings. Do you think you can follow the trail?" 

Adrien nodded, "Yeah I think so." 

A wicked grin spread across his face as he rubbed his entire hand in the shimmery substance and wiped it all over Ladybug's cheek entire she shimmered too. She shrieked playfully and tried to pull away, but he refused to let until he had thoroughly done his job. 

"Chat!" Ladybug grumbled as she attempted to wipe the shimmer off her face, but then she laughed and retaliated by swiping it across his face and dotting it on his nose, but he could only grin like an idiot instead of wiping it off. He was much taller than her than he remembered, but maybe it was because he had grown while she hadn't. 

"Aww, I really do enjoy it when you flirt back," Adrien said with another wink, grinning, and of course, Ladybug just rolled her eyes, but her smile stayed put. 

"Don't you ever get tired of wasting our time?" Ladybug asked as she followed after him. He could see the trail of glitter shimmering as the moonlight filtered in through the windows, almost like a trail of dark pixie dust. 

"Never. After all, somebody has to slow you down. You're much too ambitious for your own good." 

The trail led to a crypt behind a display case that had been burst open, revealing a carefully preserved mummy laying inside. The mummy still appeared intact, but the butterflies had come for something. Now they just had to find out what it was. 

Ladybug tapped her finger against her chin in thought. "Something is missing, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I'll need to do some research on this exhibit. You think it's safe to leave? Even if we are Ladybug and Chat Noir, I don't want to caught in here after hours."

Adrien nodded and they hurried out of there, still with next to no answers about what on Earth had happened tonight. He felt overly perplexed about so many things: What was in the mummy's sarcophagus and why did Hawk Moth want it?" 

"See you around?" Ladybug asked and Adrien nodded. 

"Yeah, see you around." 

She started to turn away and was just about to leap into the air, but Adrien called into the air after her. "Ladybug?" 

"Hmm?" 

With the moonlight in the background casting a soft glow on her and outlining her silhouette, she looked ethereal. No matter how much time or distance passed between them, he'd always love her even if she would never feel the same way. But in the very least, he had missed her as a best friend. 

Without a word, Adrien pulled her into an embrace and held her tight, burying his face into her spandex covered shoulder. To his surprise, she happily returned his embrace and neither of them broke apart for what felt like the longest time. 

"I missed you, Ladybug." 

"I missed you too, Chat." 

And then they broke apart and went their separate ways. Though he couldn't deny that he was really looking forward to seeing her again. 

∞ ∞ ∞

Crap. He'd lost track of time. Big time. He spent too long at the studio filming for a project and he was so engrossed in his thought process that he had nearly forgotten that he had made plans with Nino, Alya, and Marinette tonight. Honestly, how could he forget?! He hadn't seen Marinette in such a long time and he really wanted to see her again. 

Adrien grabbed his backpack and attempted to book it out of there, but then he cringed when he heard a very familiar voice behind him. 

"Addddrrrrrriiiiiiiiiikiinsss!!!!!" Chloe Bourgeois cried out as she entered the studio and dropped all of her shopping bags to the floor, lifting up her sunglasses and putting them on top of her head. "Leaving so soon? But I thought that we could spend some time together!" 

She rushed into his arms and he hugged her back awkwardly before glancing hurriedly at his watch. At this rate, he was going to be late.

"Chloe, I'd love to, but I can't. Nino asked me if we could have a mud fight and I said yes. You can come if you want, though." 

Of course, it wasn't the truth, but it got the desired reaction from Chloe. She simply grimaced and inspected her perfectly manicured nails. "Umm... no thanks. But really, Adrien, come over for dinner one of these days. And bring your girlfriend, too. I know just how to get rid of her." she laughed and shoved his shoulder. "Kidding!" she said before muttering under her breath, "Sort of..."

"Well, I'll see you around," Adrien said, stumbling out of the room as fast as his legs could possibly carry him and locking himself in one of the stalls in the bathroom. Thank god the bathroom appeared to be empty. "Plagg! Claws out!" 

Plagg groaned, peaking his small head out of Adrien's backpack. "Adrieeeenn." he whined, "We just transformed. I don't wanna. Can we wait a little while? I'm tired and I want a nap." 

"Oh come on Plagg," Adrien growled, "We'll be at least thirty minutes late if we do this your way, and only ten minutes late if we do this my way. Besides, you've slept all day. How much more sleep can you get?" 

The kwami groaned again and draped himself lazily over the edge of Adrien's backpack. "I'm famished, Adrien. And I'm tired. Maybe tomorrow..." He started to sink back into the backpack but stopped short when Adrien pulled out some Camembert. Immediately, Plagg made a grab for it, but Adrien held it just out of reach. 

"Oh, I don't think so Plagg. You have to be on your best behavior today if you want this." 

"I swear! I promise that I'll do whatever you want!" 

Adrien grinned triumphantly and handed the piece of stinky cheese over. "Good, now claws out!" 

At last, Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and burst out of the bathroom stall, receiving many strange looks before hurling himself outside into the sunlight. And then he zoomed across the city and–

And then he tripped on his tail and tumbled across the rooftop when he spotted his beautiful lady in red and black. She spotted him too, and her bluebell eyes became wide. He couldn't help but feel completely dazed– the good kind– as she hopped over onto the roof with him and helped him onto his feet. But then he began to panic. 

"Oh, I'm sorry Chat I can't hang around now! I have somewhere to be! Don't follow me!" 

"Only if you don't follow me!" he shot back. 

They both nodded in agreement but then proceeded to hop to the next building in unison and stopped with their eyes wide open once again.

"I mean it, Chat! Don't follow me!" 

"Fine! You go first. I'll turn the other way." He turned around for a few minutes and when he finally turned around, Ladybug was gone. How strange... they rarely ran into one another unless there was an akuma involved. 

Adrien glanced at his watch and groaned. Now he was going to be super late. He could only imagine the scolding he was going to get from Nino when he finally did arrive. Or even Marinette for that matter. He really didn't want to disappoint her. 

Changing back into Adrien, he gasped for air as he ran the rest of the way to the park that they had always met at back in high school until he spotted his friends sitting at a table. "So sorry I'm late!" he panted as he slid into the bench right next to Marinette. "I completely lost track of time." 

Alya laughed and rolled her eyes, "You and Marinette are both late to everything! Do you know how many times I had to cover for Marinette in high school classes?" 

Marinette was late too? That meant that he wasn't late either. Well not technically speaking anyway... 

"Yeah, sorry about that," Marinette smiled sheepishly and that's when Adrien finally glanced up. As soon as he saw her, his stomach did all sorts of backflips. Wow... she was absolutely gorgeous. She really had changed so much in three years. 

She gave him a soft smile but then chuckled under her breath, reaching out and swiping her thumb across his cheek. His ears felt hot and he assumed they were turned bright red at the contact, at least until he realized why she had done it. 

"Did you get into the sparkles at the studio?" Marinette laughed. "You have them all over your cheek." 

Ice crawled up his veins as he wiped the rest off with the back of his hand. Had he really been stupid enough to not have wiped the akuma shimmer off his face from the night before? Hopefully, no one would guess the truth. 

"Yeah, uh, something like that," Adrien laughed nervously. Thankfully, Alya cut in right then. 

"Did you guys hear? Ladybug is back in town!" Alya squealed. "I haven't been able to update my Ladyblog in so long!" 

At the mention of Ladybug, Adrien shook himself out of his thoughts and brought himself back to the present. He desperately wished he knew more about her, but she just wouldn't let him in... he'd spill to her in a heartbeat if she asked. But then again... Ladybug didn't necessarily like him romantically as Chat Noir. And he was sure her feelings wouldn't change for him even if she knew his real identity. 

Nino casually wrapped his arm around Alya's shoulders and cut in. "Yeah, some kid took pictures of Chat Noir and Ladybug on the Ferris wheel a while back. They seemed pretty close. Maybe they're secretly in love." 

Marinette choked on her water she just took in from her water bottle and Adrien rose his eyebrows in concern. However, she just sputtered and gasped and then finally wheezed out, "Ladybug and Chat Noir? There's no way they're in love. Actually, I heard a rumor that Ladybug is in love with someone else." 

Adrien grinned and leaned forward with his elbows resting on the wooden bench. "You can't be so sure about that Marinette. They seem quite familiar with each other to me. You can't really think it's that preposterous that they're in love." 

"It is preposterous!" she argued, "They're just friends!" 

"In love!" 

"Friends!" 

"In love!" 

He grinned again at their answer. Sure, Ladybug wasn't actually in love with him as Chat Noir, but the other three didn't have to know about that. 

"Oh don't you dare write that they're in love on your blog, Alya." Marinette threatened. 

Alya laughed, "Oh, it's so going on my Ladyblog. Now all I have to do is prove it. One of these days I'm going to get a good picture of them together and I'll prove you wrong. They're totally in love. I'm calling it now." 

Was it horrible that Adrien was actually enjoying this? Unfortunately, Alya would never get that nice picture she was searching for, but it was a nice thought, nonetheless. 

"Well let's not waste any more daylight," Nino said. "It's been years since we've all been together and I definitely want to take advantage of it."


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette hardly heard a word that her friends were saying as they walked through the park to get to the ice skating rink. She had been so busy researching the history of the mummy on display at the Louvre that she had lost track of time. Again. 

She had been in such a hurry to meet up with her friends that it had been far easier to transform and use the rooftops to get to their meeting place. What she hadn't been expecting was running into Chat Noir. Where had he been going? 

Heat filled her cheeks as she remembers the picture that Alya had mentioned. There was nothing romantic between her and Chat Noir, no matter what everyone else seemed to think. Absolutely nothing. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable. He was her best friend, after all. 

"Earth to Marinette," Alya called, waving her hand in front of Marinette's face, laughing slightly. "Come in, Marinette." 

Marinette felt the blush on her cheeks deepen in coloring. "Oh yeah, sorry, what?" 

Alya rolled her eyes, a small, knowing smile playing over her mouth. "I was asking if you wanted to stop at your parents' shop and get some hot chocolate and pastries to take with us."

Nodding, Marinette smiled. "Sure, that sounds great. My father has been working on a new cookie that practically melts in your mouth. We should grab some of those definitely." 

The sweet, sugar-filled air of the bakery caressed Marinette's nose like a friendly hug as they entered. Her father's back was turned, busily frosting cookies, but at the sound of the bell tinkling over the door to the shop, he turned around with a smile on his face. 

"Hello kids," he wiped his hands on his apron and shook hands all around. "What brings you all here?" 

"We came to get some cookies and hot chocolate to take with us to the park," Marinette replied. Her father's smile widened and he turned back to the counter, quickly boxing up some freshly baked cookies he had been working on. 

"Have fun tonight," he said as his wife brought a thermos of caramel hot chocolate out from the back. Apparently, she had heard the whole conversation. "It's been too long since the four of you were together."

Marinette glanced at her friends, holding back a sigh. They were all together, but it would never be exactly the same ever again. Nino and Alya would be married soon, not to mention that Adrien had Lucie now. She suddenly felt as though she stood in a sort of no-mans land, with no place to call her own anymore. 

"Oh no," Alya slapped her forehead and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as they left the shop. "Nino, I was supposed to pick up the invitations today. The shop is just down the street, can we just run and get them before it closes?"

Nino nodded, handing the box of cookies over to Adrien. "We'll meet you guys there. Try not to have too much fun without us, bro." 

Adrien chuckled, glancing at Marinette, whose stomach flipped uncontrollably and she couldn't help but smile in return. Adrien had that sort of effect on her. 

"We'll try, but I can't make any promises," he grinned, slapping Nino on the shoulder as he and Alya moved off down the street. Falling into step with Marinette, he gently nudged her with his elbow. 

"So you were late too, huh?" he teased, "Glad I'm not the only one who lost track of time." 

Marinette giggled, relaxing slightly, "Yeah, I was doing some research for a project." 

Not a total lie, she reasoned. 

"So, when are we going to start seeing your designs all over Paris?" Adrien asked as they walked down the crowded streets of Paris together. They were so close, Marinette felt his hand brush hers more than once, but Adrien didn't seem to notice. 

"Well I want to start my own clothing company as soon as I graduate," Marinette replied, clutching the warm thermos to her chest. "Which does remind me, I'd better get working on my dress. If I don't, then I won't be in the running for that internship. I've been so busy, I'd almost forgotten."

Adrien opened the box of cookies and peered inside. He looked tempted but quickly shut the lid again and glanced sideways at Marinette. 

"You know, you would make a really great model for your dress." he smiled, reflexively reaching out and brushing a loose strand of Marinette's hair out of her eye. "You're beautiful." 

Marinette's heart skipped several beats. Adrien just called her beautiful– that had never happened before. Maybe there was still some hope after all... 

"You know, if I'm going to model my project, I'd need a great photographer." she grinned, elbowing him playfully. "You know anyone?" 

Chuckling, Adrien replied, "I just might know a guy. Reasonably priced, ruggedly good looking too." 

Marinette's laugh was cut short by Adrien's phone ringing. He glanced down at his phone before glancing back up at her with a sheepish look on his face, "It's Lucie, do you mind?" 

"No, of course not," Marinette said brightly even as she felt her sinking down to her boots. "Go ahead." 

Adrien moved a short distance away and Marinette heard him laugh at something Lucie had said. She spun on her heels and turned away, focusing on the warmly lit shop windows across the street instead. 

"I'm sorry Marinette," Tikki said quietly, poking her head discretely out of Marinette's purse. Marinette shrugged, shivering hard as a freezing wind rushed up the street and whipped right through her. She hadn't realized how cold it was until Adrien left. 

Suddenly, a blast of heat melted through all the snow on the street, evaporating the small flakes that had been falling all around her just moments before. Marinette spun and her thermos dropped to the ground. A girl about her own age stood above the street as though suspended from invisible wires. Her hair looked like– no it was fire– and her eyes gleamed black like coals. 

"I am Global Warming!" she cackled, blasting the street again as the frightened people quickly scurried out of her way. "And I'm here to bring back Summer! Winter is cold and dark and unhappy. No more shivering, no more cold. I'm going to make summer last forever!" 

Marinette looked around wildly for Adrien, but he had vanished, hopefully somewhere inside a building where he would be safe. There wasn't time to wait anymore. She darted into an alley and let Tikki out of her purse. 

"Tikki! Spots on!" she cried, her own clothes melting into her red and black suit. Hurling herself upwards, Marinette used her yo-yo to swing herself up to the top of a charred tree. But the brittle ash like branch snapped under her weight and she started to fall. She let out a scream as she began to tumble, but before she could get very far, a strong hand reached out and grabbed her by the waist. 

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Chat Noir grinned, pulling her up so she was beside him. "Looks like I got here just in time." 

Marinette laughed in spite of herself, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. "And not a moment too soon, Kitty." 

A blast of heat whooshed over their heads and both Ladybug and Chat Noir ducked at the same time. 

"I hate to hurt your felines," Chat Noir said casually to Global Warming, causing Marinette's lip to curve upward, "But it's time for you to go." 

Global Warming stared at Chat, the temperature around them rising steadily. 

"Is that so?" she demanded, "Well then it looks like we're in for a cat fight."


	8. Chapter 8

Adrien couldn't believe what he saw. It had been years since something like this had happened and this had Hawkmoth written all over it. Citizens' screams filled the air as they ran for cover, but even then, Global Warming managed to shoot fire from her fingertips that smashed into cars, overturning the hulking metal beasts with a loud screeching noise as they scraped across the asphalt. Even the water from a nearby fire hydrant shot up to the skies when Global Warming's power melted the top of it right off, they geyser unrestrained as it burst upwards towards the sky. 

He felt completely dazed and a stupid smile pulled up his lips as he watched Ladybug swing into action, using her yo-yo to trip Global Warming by wrapping the string around the akumatized woman's legs. Despite falling flat on her face, Global Warming shot a blast of fire out of her hands and Adrien only had seconds to react. 

As quickly as he could, he leaped towards Ladybug and spun her out of the way just before the fire blast could hit her. 

"Let's turn the heat down a notch, shall we?" Adrien said as he took out his staff and extended it so he could use it as a weapon. "All this warmth is making me want to take a cat nap." 

Rushing forward, Adrien slammed his staff into Global Warming's stomach, causing her to double over in pain. Unfortunately, she managed to grab hold of his ankle and with superhuman strength, she spun Adrien around and around before letting him go, slamming him into a brick building. The blow took the air right out of him, but he couldn't stop fighting. Innocent people would get hurt if he did.

Working as a team just like they did in the old days, he and Ladybug took on the akumatized victim and dealt blow after blow after blow, but it didn't seem to do anything. If anything, Global Warming only seemed to be growing stronger as she dropped the fight altogether and flew over towards the Eiffel Tower. 

"We can't keep this up!" Ladybug panted out, "She's too strong."

"How long, exactly, has it been since you've changed into Ladybug?" Adrien grinned teasingly, "Or have you just completely forgotten about your Lucky Charm?"

Ladybug smacked her forehead as if she had overlooked the most obvious solution, which, in all honesty, she probably had. "Right! Come on, Chat! We need to catch up!" she grabbed his hand and he grinned like an idiot as she tugged him along. 

"Getting friendly before the real fight?" he asked slyly as they ran towards the tower. 

"Oh, shush, Chat. If I was getting friendly, I think you'd know." 

He shrugged, a smirk tugging at his lips, "Doesn't seem like a bad time to start," 

As expected, she ignored him and let go of his hand as she lept up into the air and kicking Global Warming in the back from behind, making her teeter dangerously on her climb up the tower. Still, when her grip only tightened as she began cackling triumphantly. 

"Paris will experience the biggest heat wave that has existed! Scorch the fields! Evaporate the water! There will be nothing left!" 

Adrien's expression became serious as he followed after, jumping from metal bar to metal bar. He took one giant leap over the akumatized woman's head and came barrelling down, kicking his foot into her face. She lost her grip and began plummeting down, but before she could crash into the ground, she managed to grab onto another metal bar, continuing to haul herself upwards. What was with this akuma? It was much stronger than usual. 

"Ladybug!" 

She turned to him, a smile playing on her lips, "I've got it," 

Ladybug used her yo-yo to swing herself upwards until she landed on a more stable platform of the Eiffel Tower all while Global Warming continued climbing. Hardly anything they did could shake her. "Lucky Charm!" 

She threw her yo-yo into the air and down came a tightly packed, powdery snowball. A snowball? Really? How was that supposed to help anybody? 

"Chat!" she gasped, "the akuma is in her bracelet." 

Adrien nodded, "I'm on it! he leaped forward as a cat would, but even then, Global Warming climbed and climbed so fast until she eventually reached the top. Whatever she was planning on doing, Adrien knew that he couldn't let her. "Ladybug, now!" 

With all her might, Ladybug threw a snowball and as soon as it hit Global Warming, it seemed to douse all the heat that she radiated from her hands and through her skin. 

"No!" Global Warming screeched. "I must scorch!" 

"Not on my watch!" Chat cried as he came flying into the scene, but Global Warming wasn't fast enough. He slipped the bracelet off the woman's wrist and immediately her akuma power fled from her and she collapsed on her hands and knees. Again and again, Adrien attempted to smash the bracelet with his rod, but the bracelet held together despite all of his best efforts to break it apart. 

He could break it with his cataclysm...

Adrien glanced down at his pulsating hand, his fingers itching for his cataclysm to be unleashed, but his expression just became more determined as he fought to ignore the impulse. He didn't want to use that power ever again. All it ever did was destroy. All it ever did was hurt. 

All his efforts to smash and crush with his staff led him nowhere, so he frantically searched the area around him until he found an oversized metal beam just off to the side. When he dropped it on the bracelet, it managed to smash the jewelry into pieces, breaking loose the akuma that was nesting inside. Adrien made a grab for it, but it flitted just out of reach. 

With wide eyes, Adrien called down to Ladybug, "It's getting away!" 

"Not today, akuma." 

Faster than Adrien thought was humanly possible, Ladybug gracefully used her yo-yo to launch herself in the air and she just managed to catch the black butterfly mid-air and deakumatized it, releasing a beautiful white butterfly in her wake. Unfortunately, on her way back down, Ladybug had no way to catch herself. She screamed as she plummeted fast towards the earth. 

Without even a second thought, Adrien dove after her and just barely managed to latch onto her ankle before he extended his rod and wedged it between the two sides of the Eiffel Tower. His knees wrapped around the rod, keeping them both stead from falling any further. 

"Phew," Ladybug smiled up at him, "That could have been messy!" 

When he reached down to pull Ladybug the rest of the way up, she laughed and squirmed as he hit a ticklish spot on her foot. 

Adrien chuckled amusedly as he held onto with one hand and tickled her foot with his other hand, all while she kicked and shrieked and laughed and squirmed. "I had no idea you were ticklish, m'lady. We should have gotten into a tickle fight much sooner. This is so much fun." 

"Stop, Chat!" Ladybug screeched. "Stop it right now!" 

"What did you say?" Chat asked as he continued to dangle her from her ankle. "I didn't hear you from way up here." Still, he showed pity on her by hauling her up until they both sat side by side on the staff. Ladybug glared at him but soon that glare turned into a smile before they both broke into a fit of laughter. 

"You are so dead, Kitty. I will get you back. Just wait and see." 

He grimaced, "I don't want to stick around for that. You're scary when you want to be." 

"That's the point," she replied coyly, but then her eyes widened as the black dots on her red earrings started to flicker out one by one until there was only one left. "I need to get back down! I'm about to transform!" 

As much as he wanted to keep her here until she was forced to transform, he knew that she would never forgive him. He had to respect her wishes. 

"As you wish, m'lady." 

Wrapping her arm around Ladybug's waist, he jumped into the air, extended his staff, and allowed his staff to shrink back down until both their feet landed safely on the ground. However, to his surprise, they had an audience who clapped and cheered at defeating the akuma. 

Adrien grinned mischievously as he caught sight on a phone rapidly taking pictures directed right at them, and if he wasn't mistaken, it was Alya's phone. It was the perfect time to really get on Ladybug's nerves. 

"M'lady, before you go..." 

He leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek, and she seemed so surprised by the motion that she didn't pull away from him. And when he pulled away, he smiled and so desperately didn't want her to flat out reject him again, so he said, "You'd better hurry, M'lady. Your spots are running out." 

Ladybug grasped onto her earrings and her big blue eyes widened with a hint of alarm as she took off at a run. Maybe someday she'd let him see the woman behind the mask, but today wasn't that day.

Now that the danger had disappeared, Adrien also took off at a run towards an alley that might conceal him when he changed back. However, to his surprise, he ran smack into Marinette. 

"Sorry!" Adrien gasped as all the air got knocked out of him. "I didn't realize anyone was back here." 

Marinette smiled and shyly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You did good work, today, Chat Noir. It's been a while since I've seen you and Ladybug fight side by side." 

Just then, he realized that this was the first time he had been face to face with Marinette and Chat Noir since high school. Admittedly and unashamedly, behind the mask, he could be anyone he wanted– do anything he wanted– and Marinette was really pretty... 

Not able to help himself, he rested his hand on the brick wall above her head and leaned in a little closer. "Yeah? And have my skills improved since then?" He jokingly flexed and to his surprise, Marinette laughed– something he definitely hadn't been expecting. Her laugh sounded nice. Just like the pitter-patter of raindrops gently falling on a lake. 

"Hmmm..." Marinette smiled, "Your strategy could use a little work," she teased, "But there's always next time. Anyways, I should probably get back to my friends. I'm sure that they're worried. It was good to see you Chat Noir," 

Adrien stood aside to let her pass, staring after her as she disappeared. Marinette seemed... different. But a good different. More confident, even. He couldn't really say the same thing about himself. He had been so shy in high school, especially since he had been homeschooled for most of his life, so he couldn't really say if he had changed for the better or not. 

Shaking the thought away, Adrien hurriedly transformed back into his normal self and rushed out of the alley, finding his friends on the side of the street. Nino looked as though he had exhaled a sigh of relief at the sight of him. 

"Where on earth were you?!" Nino cried, "I was worried sick! I thought that you might have been crushed by one of those cars Global Warming flipped. Or worse... what if you got incinerated?! I need my best man, ADRIEN." 

With a grin, Adrien just shook his head, "It takes more than that to get rid of me, Nino. I was on the phone with Lucie, but I guess I just lost track of time." 

Speaking of the devil, an expensive black car pulled up on the side of the curb and Lucie practically flew out, launching herself into Adrien's arms, smothering his face in kisses. He didn't know why, but he felt so embarrassed. He didn't really understand why he didn't want to be around Lucie and Marinette at the same time.

"I heard that there was an attack down here and I got so worried!" Lucie cried, giving him another kiss on the lips. "I'm so glad to see that you're okay." 

"Yeah, well I'm just fine," Adrien replied with a smile and wrapped his arm around her waist, turning her to meet his friends. However, that smile almost melted right off his face as he noticed that she wore a new purple and gold necklace around her neck. It looked old, like a beautiful antique. For as much as he knew Lucie, she would never even so much as touch anything that wasn't brand new. "Lucie, you already know Nino and Alya. But I don't believe that you and Marinette have met. She's a designer." 

"Oh?" Lucie asked with a raised eyebrow, looking impressed. "Well, I'm a model! I just have to see your stuff sometime."

Marinette smiled shyly but could hardly seem to hold Lucie's gaze. "I'm just a beginner, really. Still in school and everything." 

Lucie laughed lightly, which ended up matching her delicate features well. "Some of the best designers started out young." she kissed Marinette on both cheeks, "It was lovely to meet you, Marinette. And I'm serious about those designs. If you ever need a model, you know where to find me." 

She then gasped and looked at the time. "Adrien, I'm late to my eight o'clock! See you soon?" 

Her lips curled into a slight pout, and admittedly, Adrien usually found that pout rather cute, but right now, he still felt so embarrassed. Really, why did he feel like that? Lucie was his girlfriend for heaven's sake. 

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you soon." 

Before Lucie climbed back into the car, she gave him one last kiss on the lips and then drove away. He felt his entire face heat up with embarrassment after that. After all, he had flirted with both Ladybug and Marinette today, and then Lucie had just come along. It made him feel embarrassed and slightly angry. Though he wasn't sure exactly at what. 

Adrien ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "Sorry guys, I didn't know she was coming." 

"It's alright," Marinette said with a small smile. "Anyways, are we going to just stand here or are we going to go ice skating and watch some fireworks?" 

He nodded gratefully and shamefully followed after his three friends. Thankfully, Alya diverted the conversation away from the awkward happenstance by squealing and pulling out her phone. 

"You'll never guess what I captured! It wasn't the kind of kiss I was hoping for, but it's the next best thing! Look! Chat is kissing Ladybug on the cheek!" 

"What?!" Marinette squeaked and even Adrien couldn't conceal his grin as he peered over Alya's shoulder. The picture quality looked great, with himself as Chat Noir happily kissing Ladybug's cheek and her eyes widening in total surprise. 

"Told ya!" Adrien chuckled. "They are totally in love. You owe me an ice cream, Marinette."

"But we never bet on anything!" she huffed, "Besides, they aren't in love! Look at her! She's totally caught by surprise!" 

Alya laughed and shook her head. "I'm not so sure about that. Just look at the smile playing on her lips. She likes it." 

"She does not!" Marinette squeaked out, making all three of them burst out into laughter. Adrien didn't know what it was that convinced Marinette that Chat Noir and Ladybug weren't a couple, but it was actually quite entertaining.

The four of them made it to the ice skating rink and unsurprisingly, the rink seemed to be full of couples all around their age. It wasn't until then that Adrien glanced at their group of four and realized that this was pretty much a double date... After all, Alya and Nino were engaged. That left Adrien and Marinette as the odd ones out. That wasn't a bad thing, right? Maybe for one night, he wouldn't mind pretending that he wasn't dating Lucie. 

Guilt pricked at his conscience at the thought. As he had said before, he just needed to give their relationship more time. Maybe then he'd actually start feeling something more for her. 

After everyone got their skates, Alya and Nino were the first to drift out onto the ice, looking as though they belonged in the Olympics themselves. Nino had many hidden talents and ice skating happened to be one of them. Everyone had made fun of him for it in grade school, apparently, but now no one was laughing. 

Surprisingly, Marinette hesitated. 

"Are you ready?" Adrien asked, but Marinette just bit her lip anxiously. He couldn't help but stare at those lips, wondering why he had never noticed how cute they were before. 

"I'm just not very good at ice skating..." she replied, "Maybe I'll just watch you guys from here." 

Adrien gave her a reassuring smile and extended his hand out to her. "Come on, I'll help you. I won't let you fall. What do you say?" 

A blush entered her cheeks as she hesitantly slid her hand into his and helped her to her wobbly feet. The moment that her feet hit the ice, they slid right out from beneath her and if Adrien hadn't been holding on tightly to her waist, she would have crashed hard into the ice. However, when he caught her, their lips were only inches apart. Adrien's heart skipped a beat as he gazed back into her large blue eyes, but before he could contemplate the feeling any further, he helped her back onto her feet. 

"S-s-sorry..." Marinette stuttered, "I told you I'm bad at this." 

He laughed as he took hold of both her hands and skated backward, facing her. "That's why I'm here." he winked, "Just keep your feet straight and that should help. There you go. See? You're a natural." 

Marinette laughed and rolled her eyes, "Not really, but I appreciate that vote of confidence. How did you get so good at skating anyway?" 

Adrien smiled softly at the happy memories that came flooding back into his mind. "We have a lot of land in our backyard at the Agreste Manor, and there is a small grove of trees that hides a small little pond. During the winter, it was one of my mom's favorite places to go. She'd always skate with me every winter. Those are some of my best memories." 

"Please forgive me if this is to forward, but how did your mother die?" 

Sadness filled Adrien's eyes at the thought. "It's okay, I don't mind you asking. I wish I knew the answer to that myself, but my father never talks about it. I don't know how she died." 

She squeezed his hand and gave him a cheerful smile. "She seems like she was a wonderful woman." 

"She definitely was," 

"Hurry up, slowpokes!" Alya teased as she and Nino flew right past them, "We've already passed you at least ten times." 

Adrien chuckled and held on tighter to Marinette's hands as her feet slipped again. In a quiet voice, he said, "What they don't know is that we're having way more fun than them." 

Light laughter escaped Marinette's mouth and after that, the smile wouldn't disappear from her face. "You're right about that. This definitely beats just being a benchwarmer."

After another hour, they called it quits and left the ice skating rink to further enjoy their cookies and hot chocolate at the park. Although it was cold outside, none of them seemed to mind all that much, especially when there was so much talking and laughing, each of them having a great time. 

"Let's set up here," Nino interrupted, setting out a blanket on a patch of grass underneath the open skies in the park. They'd be able to see the fireworks really well from here. Just another hour or so before they got lit off. Poor Plagg hated fireworks, but tonight he'd just have to deal with it. Adrien would give him two wheels of cheese to make up for it. 

The four of them sat down together and began munching on the treats and enjoying the hot chocolate. 

"Delicious," Adrien sighed, "You were right about these cookies, Marinette. They really do melt in your mouth." 

"What did I tell you?" she smiled, "They're absolutely amazing." 

The conversation continued on until all four of them were talking and laughing and having a great time. He had really missed this. He had missed his friends so much. 

Soon enough, and unsurprisingly, the topic turned on to Alya and Nino's wedding, and Nino and Adrien just managed to sneak out before they were caught up in the boring details too. Wedding planning just sounded so boring. He was sure how Nino could possibly deal with it all the time. 

"Phew! Nino cried as they walked off together around the quickly darkening park. "Alya has been talking my ear off about all this wedding stuff. I know that she has sisters to take the brunt of it for me, but they don't help all that much, Anasi isn't interested and her twin sisters are busy working in Africa. But at least Marinette is here now. As happy as I am to be getting married to Alya, I don't really care about those little details. 

"Does any guy?" Adrien joked, but then he sobered as he glanced back at Marinette and Alya before he and Nino took a seat on the park bench. 

Letting out a deep breath, Nino said, "Marinette is a great girl." 

Adrien nodded, "Yeah, she is." 

"Very dateable too."

He glanced over at his friend and scowled, "You know that I'm dating Lucie." 

"Yeah, but you clearly don't like it," Nino shot back. "Why are you dating her anyways?" 

"You know why," Adrien sighed sadly as he kicked a rock with his shoe a little moodily. "It makes my father happy. It's all my fault he's in a wheelchair."

"No it's not, Adrien," Nino replied as he adjusted the headphones around his neck that had never left since the beginning of high school. "It's not like you could have brought down that building yourself, Adrien. Besides, no one could have foreseen that he was nearby when it happened, not even Ladybug or Chat Noir. Lots of people got hurt that night, and it was no one's fault except Hawkmoth's. Really, you don't have to date Lucie if it makes you unhappy." 

Adrien shrugged, now digging the tip of his shoe into the dirt. "I'm not unhappy. My dad set the two of us up and it makes him so happy to see the two of us together. I just can't take that happiness away from him. And Lucie isn't horrible. She's nice and funny and pretty."

"But?" 

He let out a long sigh. "But I'm not in love with her, and I don't think that I ever will be." Despite Nino being one of his best friends, Adrien couldn't bring himself to tell him that he was in love with Ladybug. Nino would just laugh at him and tell him that he had no chance. Adrien almost snorted. That he would be right about. 

Nino clapped him on the back and gave him a reassuring smile. "Adrien, you can't just throw away your life just to make someone else happy. You've done that for your dad for as long as I've known you. You deserve to let yourself be happy for once. Break up with Lucie. Start dating other people. Maybe even ask Marinette out on a date. I mean, she's really cute, don't you think?" 

Surprisingly, Adrien's ears turned red at the thought. "Yeah, she's really cute. Different from the Marinette that I remember from high school." 

Yet, he frowned. The girl he really wanted to date was Ladybug, but he's tried for years to get her to go out with him. But the answer has always been the same– no.

"See?" Nino grinned as he shoved Adrien's ribs with his elbow. "Just ask Marinette out on a date. I could just be a friendly thing. No big deal. But really, you need to break up with Lucie. She's making you miserable." 

"What makes you say that?" Adrien chuckled. 

"Umm... why do I not say that? She's needy. She calls you too much. She always makes you leave early when you're hanging out with us. And there's something weird about her. I just can't put my finger on it." 

"Stop," Adrien rolled his eyes and shoved Nino right back. However, it surprised him that he felt so much lighter inside with the thought of breaking up with Lucie. But his father would be so unhappy about it. Maybe Adrien would somehow be able to make it up to him.

The first firework of the night burst into the air, halting their conversation in their tracks. "Come on," Alya yelled at them, "You're going to miss it!" 

Adrien smiled relievingly as he headed back into their large blanket to sit next to Marinette. Of course, Alya and Nino cuddled as they watched the fireworks, but Adrien found happiness just being near all his friends. And Marinette's reactions at the firework bursting above them were really cute too. Maybe Nino was right... one date couldn't hurt all that bad. 

But when he opened his mouth to ask, he clammed up and became so nervous that he could hardly even breathe. That same shy kid from high school came back and took over. 

Clearing his throat, Adrien forced the words out of his mouth, "Hey, Marinette?" 

"Yes?" she asked, turning towards him. At that moment, a blue firework burst upwards into the sky, reflecting in Marinette's eyes and making the blue in them pop out even more. Her eyes looked so familiar... 

He cleared his throat again and tried to push away the nervous butterflies that came out of nowhere whenever he looked over at Marinette. It felt as though his stomach may have gotten akumatized. 

"You know that dress you're making?" After asking it, Adrien nearly beat a brick against his head. Why couldn't he be Chat Noir? Chat Noir seemed to be much smoother than Adrien.

"Of course. What about it?" 

Adrien shrugged and tried to act cool. "Can I help? I mean, I don't know a thing about sewing and I know even less about designing. But I just thought it might be fun. Just the two of us. And maybe some video games too? I've been practicing. I think I can finally beat you now. Your dad can join in too, to really test our strength." Now he felt as though he was just blabbering. He didn't use the word 'date', but it was a start. Besides they were only just friends. He was in love with Ladybug, after all. He just needed to branch out and find his own happiness, just like Nino had said. 

Marinette's smile grew wider and wider until it filled her entire face. "Yeah, that sounds fun. Maybe we could even have these delicious cookies for a snack again." 

He sighed in relief as they returned their attention back to the fireworks up ahead. "That sounds perfect."


	9. Chapter 9

Scrambling around her room, Marinette arranged everything she would need to begin sewing her dress. She had a bolt of bright red silk, a pattern that she had made herself with tissue paper, her sewing shears, her sewing machine...

She pulled her old gaming console out of the closet where it had rested while she was away at college. She only ever pulled it out when she came home from breaks and played Ultimate Mecha Strike III with her father. She was still the reigning champion, even though he swore that he had been practicing while she was away. 

Compulsively straightening out the silver tray of caramel cookies that sat on the end of the polished wooden table, Marinette attempted to constrain here delirious excitement. She hadn't spent time alone with Adrien for so long! It almost felt like a date, but she couldn't allow herself to get her hopes up. He hadn't exactly said that this was a date, and as far she knew, he was still dating Lucie. But even so, her heart skipped a beat as she thought about her 'non-date' all the same.

"Just relax and have fun," Tikki advised from where she sat on Marinette's shoulder. "It will be great. And Adrien did say that you're beautiful." 

Marinette smiled, tickling her kwamis head, "Thanks, Tikki." 

Her phone buzzed on the desk beside her sewing machine and she picked it up to see a text from Alya. It was only two words. 

Ladyblog. Now.

Curiosity got the better of her and Marinette sat down at her computer, pulling up the Ladyblog. There was a new video and pictures that Alya had taken the last night of Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting Global Warming. Alya's voice narrated over the video. 

"Looks like Paris' favorite famous superhero duo is back together again. But could there be more between Ladybug and Chat Noir than just a great friendship? The Ladyblog obtained exclusive photos of the heroes sharing a kiss after vanquishing the villain. 

Marinette groaned as the picture of Chat Noir kissing her cheek appeared on the screen. Why couldn't he just be sensible?

But at the same time, Marinette wasn't feeling very sensible at the moment either. It wasn't sensible that she could still feel the warm pressure of Chat's lips, as distinctly as she had felt it for the swift second that it had rested on her cheek. And it was even less sensible that the kiss had been far from unpleasant. In fact, if she was honest with herself, she had enjoyed it much more than she thought she would. Or ever would have allowed herself to. 

Shaking her head in annoyance, she glanced down at the number of views that the video had gotten and gasped. Three million? Three million people had seen Chat kiss her cheek?! Oh, he was so going to get it for that little stunt. 

A knock sounded on her door and she quickly closed the Ladyblog as Tikki quickly dove out of sight. 

"Come in!" she called brightly and Adrien appeared with one of his signature grins on his face. 

"Hey, Mari," he said, pulling himself up into her room and holding out a small shopping bag. "I found this and thought you might like it to go with your dress." 

Smiling, Marinette took the bag as Adrien helped himself to a cookie off the plate. Her heart thumped hard when she opened it and saw a beautiful hair comb nestled in tissue paper at the bottom. The swirling silver glittered with small rubies and diamonds and she picked it almost reverently, holding it up to the light. 

"Wow, Adrien!" she exclaimed her smiling widening. "It's beautiful!" 

Adrien ran his hand over the back of his neck in a bashful way. She had always thought it was cute when he did that. 

"I saw it in my dad's studio yesterday. It just reminded me of you." 

Marinette felt herself blushing slightly at his words. How had he known that it would go perfectly with her dress? Adrien was so wonderful, she had missed him so much. 

Clearing her throat to cover up her emotions, she said, "Do you want to help me with my dress or get crushed at Ultimate Mech Strike III first?"

Adrien laughed, running his hand through his blonde hair. "Well, I think that we can postpone your demise for a little while longer. Let's work on your dress so we can get you that internship." 

Grinning, Marinette artfully tossed her hair over her shoulders. "Alright then, you big chicken. But you can't put off losing to me forever. How about we start with cutting the pattern?" 

They began laying out the pattern over the fabric and Marinette pinned them carefully in place. She showed Adrien how to pin the pattern pieces according to their markings and then grabbed the shears. At that moment, Marinette's mother called to her from downstairs. She glanced to Adrien, gesturing to the pattern pieces. "Can you start cutting out these pieces when I'm gone? It really should only be a second." 

"Sure," Adrien agreed with a teasing wink, "I think that I could handle that." 

Marinette giggled and made her way down the stairs, "What is it, Mama?" 

"I just wanted to send up this pitcher of milk to go with the cookies," she said, handing Marinette a cold jug and two glasses. "Let me know if you need anything, okay mon trésor?"

Nodding, Marinette smiled, "Thank you. You're the best." 

Taking the stairs two at a time, Marinette pushed on the trap door and let herself back inside. There stood Adrien with his arms full of perfectly cut pieces of silken fabric. How had he done that so quickly? 

"Wow," she giggled, setting the pitcher down next to the cookies. "I'm impressed. You may have a natural gift for this." 

Adrien grinned, setting down the fabric down next to her sewing machine. "Well, it does run in my family, you know?" 

Marinette let out a snort that quickly turned into a laugh, "That is true. When I'm a famous designer, maybe I should hire you." 

She set the glasses down on the table, but when she turned, her hip bumped into one of them, sending it tumbling down towards the floor. As quick as a flash, Adrien lunged forward and grabbed it before it could hit the ground. He handed it back to Marinette, flashing a grin at her. 

"I guess that we can add cat-like reflexes to my resume," he joked, setting the glasses back down on the table. Marinette laughed, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. That sounded like the same kind of lame joke that Chat Noir would make. Marinette pretended that she didn't find them funny most of the time, but she could always count on her partner to make her smile. Just like Adrien. 

"Well now that that's out of the way, do you want to meet your doom?" she teased, nodding towards the gaming console. Adrien wiggled his eyebrows at her with a mock serious expression. 

"Let's do it."


	10. Chapter 10

Adrien might have been good at Ultimate Mecha Strike III, but Marinette was still smoking him! He couldn't believe it! After all this time practicing, she was still better than him. How?!

His expression became more and more concentrated by the minute as he fought against Marinette, but after delivering a death blow with an expertly aimed kick to his head, his character fell over defeated. All he could do was stare at the screen disbelievingly. Marinette beat him. He couldn't believe it!

"Don't tell me you were easy on me," Adrien joked as the game returned to the home screen for them to pick out their characters. 

"Maybe a little," she laughed. "I did tell you that you would meet your doom." 

Still, he couldn't believe how good she was a playing this game. "I demand a rematch! You're going down this time, Marinette." 

They both laughed, but when Sabine poked her head into the room while carrying a plate of delicious looking cheese pastries they both stopped mid-laugh. "Anyone in the mood for gougéres?" she asked with a smile on her face. 

"Cheese!" a small, excited voice came from just inside his backpack, nearly causing Adrien to have a heart attack. 

Marinette's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What was that?" 

"Uh... my stomach's growling!" Adrien cried, patting his stomach whilst grimacing. "I haven't eaten all day." 

She giggled and looked at him pointedly, "You ate half a plate of cookies, Adrien!" 

"Well, erm... I'm a growing man?" 

Before she could respond to his comment, he grabbed his backpack and rushed towards the door, but not before stealing a few of the gougéres off the plate, "Be right back! Gonna hit the restroom and I'll be back in a jiffy." 

Adrien flinched. Why would he ever say the word 'jiffy'? He could have smacked himself. 

Adrien hurried down the hallway and when he shut the bathroom door behind him, only then did he allow himself to sigh in relief. That definitely could have been messy. 

Opening up his backpack, he glared down at Plagg. "You really need to be more careful, Plagg!" he hissed, "Marinette could have heard you. Do you have any idea what she would think if she actually saw you?!" Still, he handed the kwami the gougéres and he devoured them hungrily as if he hadn't eaten in days, perhaps even weeks. 

"So? What's the big deal?" Plagg said as he munched happily on the cheese pastries. 

"The big deal, Plagg, is that I'm supposed to be keeping my identity a secret. If word got out that I was Chat Noir, my normal life would never be... well, normal again. I'll be Chat Noir full time, no matter where I go. Besides, I don't want Marinette to find out. What if she told Alya? My identity would be leaked." 

"Oh, please. Trust me." Plagg said as he savored his last bite of the cheese, rolling his eyes, "Marinette wouldn't tell anyone." 

Adrien shook his head at the thought of Marinette's reaction if she found out. It probably wouldn't be good. "You don't know that. Anyways, I'm about to go back upstairs. Not another peep from you, alright?" 

Plagg groaned and sulked in the dark corner of Adrien's backpack. "Fine, but I expect another gougére before you eat them all."

He grinned as he swung his backpack over his shoulder once more and headed back into Marinette's room. One problem taken care of and one more to figure out. He still had to beat Marinette at Ultimate Mecha Strike III at least once. 

As he entered the room, the sight of her caused his stomach to get akumatized all over again. There was just something about her. Something so familiar... 

Careful not to disturb Plagg, Adrien pulled the camera out of his backpack and began filming Marinette who suddenly had a shy look on her face all over again. "Alright, you may have won this round, Mari. Are you ready to get your butt whooped on this second round?" 

Marinette rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yeah, well that's what you said about the first round too. You sure can try, but you won't succeed." 

When he put the camera down, they started round two, and this time, he put a little more effort into his fighting. A kick here. A punch there. And then finally, he won by the tiniest sliver.

"Whoo! Second round goes to me. What do you have to say about that, Marinette?"

"Are you really still filming?" she asked, giggling, "Give me that." 

She turned the camera around on him and began filming him instead. "So you've won this round, Mr. Agreste. But they invented tiebreakers for a reason. Whoever wins this next round is the reigning champion of all thing Ultimate Mecha Strike III. Are you prepared?" 

"Oh, I'm prepared. I'm looking forward to the ultimate showdown." 

They shook hands and when she set the camera down on the wooden table, they started their final round. Adrien had to admit– he had never seen Marinette get this aggressively competitive before. He could hardly get in a single good hit and before he knew it, his character fell over defeated and the screen kept flashing, naming Marinette a winner. 

"Defeated!" she cried and just seeing her so excited made him smile. He had never really been very competitive, even when he dealt with Ladybug on a regular basis, but he sure liked being involved in the competition. 

Adrien held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright. You won the title as the reigning champion fair and square. So what do you have to say for yourself?" 

He directed the camera at her once again and caught a small, secret smile before it disappeared once again. "I say it's time to tone it down a notch. What do you say to a game of Mario Kart?" 

A wide grin split across his face. "Sounds great. This was something my dad used to play with me once in a while before–" he stopped himself right there as he turned the camera off and put it away, receiving a quiet groan from Plagg who looked to be trying to get some sleep in his backpack.

"I'm sorry about your dad, Adrien," Marinette said softly as she placed her hand on top of his. "That must be hard." 

"Yeah, it is." 

What he didn't tell her was that it was entirely his fault. He absolutely couldn't tell her that, otherwise she'd find out that he was Adrien by day and Chat Noir by night. The sole responsibility of that burden was his to bear and his alone. 

Marinette didn't say anything else as they started a game of Mario Kart, he continued. "I'm really glad he's alive, though. I don't entirely know what I'd do if I'd lost him. Plus, he's around more often. I never thought I'd see that day." 

He smiled at that. Whenever he visited his father's home, he was always nearby and in a way, it felt as if they'd grown closer as father and son. 

"Your dad seems like a great man," she replied with a smile. 

"That he is. Though, I feel as if we're nothing alike. Sometimes I imagine that if my mother was still here, I'd be almost exactly like her." 

Marinette smiled softly as they continued playing, zooming around and around on the course. Whenever the bridge part came, Adrien always fell off it at least one, but he didn't mind. He just was really enjoying spending time with Marinette. She was so kind and fun and definitely pretty. 

"And what about Lucie?" Marinette asked hesitantly. "Does your dad like her?" 

Adrien sighed. He was hoping that the topic of Lucie wouldn't be brought up. But it had to be eventually, he supposed. "Yeah, he adores her. The two of them have a great relationship. My dad was actually the one who set us up in the first place. Apparently, they knew each other for a while before I ever met her. She was a family friend or something like that." 

She nodded slowly, "So it's going well, then." 

It was a statement, not a question, but either way it made Adrine snort with laughter. "Well, I wouldn't say that. I broke up with her." 

Glancing over at him in surprise, Marinette asked, "You two broke up?" 

"Yeah," he shrugged, "I definitely don't want to be around when my dad finds out, though. Can I just move away for a few months?" It was a joke, but he meant it all the same. Marinette laughed and joined in, feeling overly relieved that his chapter with Lucie was now finally over. Now that Ladybug was back in town, he couldn't even fathom the idea of letting it go on any longer. It almost felt like a betrayal to the partner he cared so much about. 

This time, Marinette's dad, Tom, was the one who poked his head in the room, carrying two delicious looking ice cream sundaes. "Sundaes, anyone?" 

They paused the game to take the sundaes and when Tom disappeared, the two of them sat cross-legged on the floor to eat them. 

"Wow," Adrien mused as he took a big bite of vanilla ice absolutely smothered in hot chocolate sauce. "Do you your parents usually feed you this good? I'm surprised you're not fat." 

Marinette chuckled and nudged him gently with her foot. "Not usually this good. You must have done something to get on their good side." 

Adrien grinned from ear to ear as he nudged her foot back with his own foot. "I can't imagine what that would be. All I ever do is steal your food and lose to you in Ultimate Mecha Strike III." 

"That must be it," she teased and nudged him again, but this time he caught her foot and to his delightful surprise, she screeched with laughter as he tickled her foot. He just couldn't help himself. He just couldn't help himself– if he found a ticklish spot, he just had to tickle. He just had to. So he tickled her foot and laughed as she squirmed and kicked and shrieked with laughed some more. At least he found it amusing until she retaliated and found the ticklish spot on his sides. Now it was his turn to squirm and laugh, and when he tried to push her off of him, he felt overly surprised to find that she was much stronger than she looked. 

He reached for her foot again and made her squeal, but then somehow they flipped over and he found himself straddling her with her arms pinned over her head, their faces only inches apart. Immediately, his heart rate picked up as he gazed back into her big blue eyes, feeling as if his whole body froze over completely. 

Thankfully, he shook himself out of it and pushed himself off her, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully as he grabbed his backpack. "I should probably go. Thanks for letting me help out with your dress. When it's finished, I'll definitely be your photographer. 

She got to her feet and even her cheeks were completely flushed over with pink as she smiled shyly. "Thanks for helping. I'll see you later, Adrien." 

Adrien nodded, "Yeah, I'll see you later." 

And then he left as quickly as he could, grateful when the rain started pouring on him when he exited the Dupain-Cheng's home. The drops of rain helped clear his head. He and Marinette were just friends. He just got a little carried away, that's all.

A load groan sounded from his backpack and Plagg unzipped it the tiniest bit to poke his head out. "It's raining? I hate rain..." he whined out, "Can we go home yet?" 

He grinned and nodded as he stared in the direction of his apartment complex, "Though if you keep complaining, I have half a mind to leave you out here." 

"You wouldn't!" Plagg scowled. "I haven't even had dinner yet!"

Adrien chuckled and closed his backpack up again. One thing he felt sure of– his life would never be the same without Plagg in it.


	11. Chapter 11

Marinette felt as though she was walking a tightrope between hope and nervousness after the date with Adrien. The afternoon had been wonderful, almost too wonderful. Did she even dare to hope that there could ever be something more between them? 

She watched him leave through the rain-streaked window, smiling as she replayed their tickle fight in her head. For a brief moment, his bright green eyes had held an emotion much stronger than friendship as he gazed down at her. The memory made Marinette's insides spin around pleasantly. Or was she just imagining the whole thing? 

"Oh, Tikki," she sighed, spinning on her toes away from the window and twirling until she fell on her bed, nearly tripping over her kwami. "That was wonderful!" 

Tikki smiled, resting on Marinette's outstretched hand. "You two certainly seem to be having some fun. What are you going to do next, then?" 

Marinette frowned slightly. She hadn't considered her next move. Truth be told, she was still a little bit dazed from this afternoon. 

"I-I just don't know, Tikki," Marinette floundered. "What if I try and Adrien doesn't really like me at all?" 

Tikki let out an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. Marinette's kwami rarely ran out of patience with her, but she knew that Tikki always had her best interests at heart. 

"Marinette, if you truly want something, you just have to try and make it work! It's better to fail trying than to not have bothered trying at all," she scolded. "How's Adrien supposed to be the love of your life if you don't go for it?" 

Marinette nodded, setting Tikki down on her shoulder as she stood up. "You're right, Tikki, I'll never know if I don't try. It's time for me to be brave." 

"Atta girl," Tikki smiled, giving Marinette's cheek an affectionate little squeeze. "Good for you." 

Marinette grinned. She'd never know what could happen between her and Adrien unless she tried. And now that Lucie wasn't dating him anymore, she just might have a shot. 

∞ ∞ ∞

Two days later, the buzzing of Marinette's phone woke her early in the morning. She glanced groggily at it, smiling when she recognized Alya's number. 

"What's up?" she greeted her best friend, sliding her feet down to the floor and stretching. 

"Well, the last post on the Ladyblog was a huge success," Alya's voice sounded ecstatic, making Marinette cringe. "A lot of people are really excited about the two of them being a couple." 

"They aren't a couple," Marinette snapped indignantly before she could stop herself. Then, quickly trying to cover her mistake, said, "Ladybug and I are friends, remember? She would have told me." 

"Hmmm..." Alya sighed reluctantly. "Maybe. But the still kissed her and everyone saw it! That has to mean something!" 

Marinette flushed, remembering that kiss all too clearly. His lips had been so tender and gentle against her skin. Her heartbeat started beating more quickly at the memory, butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. She quickly shook the thought away. Chat's silly flirting didn't mean anything to her. Did it? 

"Anyways," Alya continued, changing the subject. "The reason I called is that I want you to come to help me pick out some shoes to go with the dress you're making me. I have the swatches for our color scheme. Hopefully, we can manage to find something." 

Nodding, Marinette glanced up at her reflection in the mirror to the see that tangled rats nest that was currently her hair. 

"Sure," she agreed. "Give me about an hour to get ready?" 

"I'll pick you up at ten," Alya replied, "the mall won't be crowded and we'll have all day." 

Marinette suppressed a groan at the thought of her having to spend all day shopping. "Okay, but you're going to have to bribe me with food if we're going to be in there all day." 

"Consider it done," Alya laughed and they ended the call. Marinette ran a hand groggily over her face and glanced out the window. It was snowing lightly, perfect weather for staying inside and finishing her dress. The dressmaker's dummy near her desk caught her eye and she sighed. The dress was coming along exactly how she had envisioned it, with fluttering red fabric gliding gracefully across the floor. She would be done with it in a few days and her heart skipped a beat as she imagined modeling it for Adrien. Sighing, she dragged herself out of bed. The dress could wait another day. 

She took a quick shower and applied a little makeup. Her hair curled lightly down around her shoulders as she put on a coat and scarf that she had made herself for a designing class last fall. The royal blue always brought out her eyes spectacularly and she always felt pretty wearing it. 

When Alya arrived, she said hello to Marinette's parents before the two girls walked a few blocks over to the mall. 

"Girl, you're going to be a huge hit in the fashion industry once you get going," Alya commented, surveying Marinette's outfit. "Everything you make is so beautiful. You see the world through such artistic eyes," 

Marinette beamed at her best friend's praise, "Thanks, Alya." 

"I'm serious," Alya grinned. "And after you're all rich and famous, I'll be able to say that I knew you before you became a superstar." 

"Yeah, well I hope that you still want to say that after I show you your wedding dress." Marinette teased. 

They giggled together, entering the mall with a flurry of snow trailing after them. But when they stepped inside, they found the mall eerily still and quiet. Marinette froze, all of her instincts going into overdrive. 

"Marinette?" Alya whispered uneasily, "What's going-" 

Her question was cut off by an earsplitting roar coming from the other side of the mall. Marinette tensed, wondering what excuse she'd have to come up with this time. 

"Alya, hide!" she ordered her friend, who obeyed and slipped into the nearest shop. Ducking into a corridor, Marinette transformed. 

"Tikki! Spots on!" she cried, "Let's go!"


	12. Chapter 12

He could hear the roar from a mile away– literally. It ripped across his eardrums and gave him a serious headache, making him feel dizzy as black dots danced in the corners of his eyes. An akuma. 

Immediately, Adrien jumped up from where he was sitting in the café, pouring over his project from work, threw his unfinished coffee away in the trash, and zipped out of the establishment as fast as his legs could carry him. But then he skidded to a stop on the sidewalk and looked every which way for any sign of an akuma, but saw nothing. At least until he heard the earsplitting roar once more. It was coming from the mall. 

"Plagg! Claws out!" 

Surprisingly, Plagg didn't moan or gripe about it this time and within seconds, he was Chat Noir bursting through the doors to the mall. Already, he found Ladybug in combat with the beast– if you could even call it that. The man had three hands on each side, his skin stained a sickly shade of green, and his head looked as though it had been replaced by a shark. Fortunately, he had nothing on him but a pair of ripped pants and a necklace with a shark tooth dangling around his neck, making it obvious where the akuma hid. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be easy to get near him. 

The akumatized man who called himself King Shark (yes, yes guys, it's from The Flash) lifted his head up to the ceiling and let out another earth-shattering roar, and Adrien had to cover his ears to block out the sound. 

"Chat! Thank goodness!" 

Ladybug landed right next to him, already in a fighting stance as she swung her yo-yo fast in a circle. She looked as though just fighting the beast for as long as she had completely wiped out all of her energy. 

"I can't get close enough to him without him attacking me first," she panted, her expression serious and calculating. 

Chat grinned from ear to ear, "Well I'm paw-itive that you simply need some assistance. He can't be that bad. Just look at his hiss-terical face." 

She gently swatted his arm, "Are you just going to sit there making puns all day, or are you going to help me?!" With that, she leaped forward again. He gave her a salute and followed suit. Together they attacked King Shark, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get close enough. They needed a distraction. 

"Ladybug! Attack on my signal," Adrien called out to her and him gave him a brief nod. He had to jump over King Shark's tail when he swung it his way, just barely managing to dodge his attack. It was time to pull out the old tricks... 

Using one of his razor-sharp claws, Adrien sliced the skin along his own arm so it drew blood. 

"Chat! What are you doing?!" Ladybug cried as she dodged another attack from the monster. 

"This," he replied calmly as he waved his arm around in the air. That was enough to get King Shark to stop in his tracks and lift his nose up to the air, sniffing out the source of blood. At last, the shark's gaze met his and he charged forward, completely ravenous for blood. Wait for it... Wait for it... 

At the last second, Chat used the smooth glass of his watch to catch the sunlight and reflect the light into King Shark's eyes until he couldn't see, the light blinding him. "Now, Ladybug!" 

She attacked at that moment while King Shark incapacitated and knocked the monster right to his knees, but not before slipping the necklace off his neck. When the necklace came free, King Shark turned back into a regular human, but the akuma stubbornly stayed inside the necklace. Again and again, Ladybug stomped on the tooth, but no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't break. 

"Chat! I need you to use your cataclysm." 

Hurriedly, he shook his head. In order to break the necklace, he knew he needed to use that power, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. What if it got out of control? What if it hurt someone, just like it had hurt his father? He'd never be able to forgive himself if somehow there was a repeat of three years ago. 

Shaking the thought from his mind, he scooped up the akumatized tooth and stashed it in his pocket. Somehow, these akumas were getting stronger, and this one was even stronger than the last. If he broke the tooth, the akuma would be released, but he thought it might be better if the akuma stayed locked inside for a little while longer– at least until he and Ladybug could figure out what was happening. 

"You're going to keep it?" Ladybug asked with a worried expression, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea." 

"Neither is destroying it. We both know that something big is happening and I think that it all links back to whatever was taken from the mummy's tomb. "Don't worry, m'lady. I'll call you before I decide to break it open." 

Ladybug nodded reluctantly and started to turn away, but Adrien's grin only widened as he cleared his throat, making her turn her head back to look at him.

He bowed to her with a flourish and from behind his back, he produced a beautiful, single long-stemmed rose and held it out to her. "For you, m'lady." 

To his surprise, followed by a bit of hurt, Ladybug pushed the rose away from her with the palm of her hand. 

"What are you doing, Chat?" Ladybug frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest, followed by a look of annoyance. "First the kiss and now this? Is this some kind of publicity stunt?" 

Adrien didn't know that it was possible, but the black ears on top of his head flattened against his hair as the hurt overcame him. Sure, he was used to being rejected by her time and time again, but somehow this felt different, it felt... final. 

"That's not it at all, m'lady." he defended, and only then did he notice that others were watching them. They weren't alone. "It's not a stunt. I'm serious." 

Ladybug shook her head and continued to scowl. "Well, I don't want it. It belongs in the trash, you stupid cat." 

Now his ears were completely flat against his head and his whole body felt as though it was drooping from the heartache. Had he really gone too far? He thought that it was just an innocent gesture to show her his feelings. 

Her expression fell as she took him in and she reached out, "Chat wait. Chat–" 

Without another word, Adrien set the rose down on the banister beside them and took out his staff, extending it so that it would propel him upwards before allowing him to disappear outside, out of sight of Ladybug. They would never be more than crime-fighting buddies. Her message came across to him loud and clear. Adrien just needed to take his feelings for her and throw them in the trash and leave them there, because that was the only place they belonged.


	13. Chapter 13

Marinette fairly drooped by the time that she and Alya had finished their shopping. She was feeling awful for hurting Chat's feelings, but he had backed her into a corner and she couldn't see any other way out. Chat was one of her best friends, her closest ally. Hurting him felt like a physical blow to her own heart. 

"Are you okay?" Alya asked as they walked back to the bakery. "You seem kinda down." 

Marinette shrugged, "I'm okay. Just tired, I guess." 

Alya nodded sympathetically. "Maybe we overdid it with the shopping. Come on, I'll make it up to you with a movie." 

"Actually," Marinette sighed, "Can I take a raincheck? I really don't feel well." 

"Sure," Alya agreed easily, giving Marinette a one-armed hug. "Feel better, girl!" 

At the door of the bakery, Marinette turned and waved at her best friend before climbing the stairs to her room. Her limbs felt as heavy as lead as guilt rushed through her. She felt as though she had just betrayed her partner, even though she hadn't meant it the way it sounded. 

"Why did you do that?" Tikki demanded once they were alone in her room. 

"I don't know," Marinette groaned, guilt pummeling into her heart like a fist. "I was just feeling embarrassed and didn't know what to do! He's not really serious anyways!" 

Tikki just shook her head, "Marinette, Chat Noir really likes you. Why won't you give him a chance?" 

Marinette's heart pinched at her kwami's scolding. "Tikki, I don't love him in that way. I care a lot about him as a friend. But I don't love him." 

"You don't know love when you see it," Tikki snapped. Marinette felt a little shocked by her kwami's behavior. She'd never seen her this angry. "You've been so busy creating something in your imagination that you think is love, and you expect the real thing to look like that." 

"Tikki," Marinette pleaded, "Please go away and leave me alone for a little while." 

Tikki nodded, disappearing out the window without a word. Marinette wondered briefly where she was going, but found that she didn't really care all that much. Her world had tumbled into tiny pieces and she wanted to reconstruct it. She tried to tell herself that it was all Chat's fault, that he had ruined their friendship, but her heart just wouldn't believe it. She had destroyed their friendship, and now she'd have to learn how to live without it. 

The next two days passed by uneventfully, with little under a current of vague pain and sadness running through it whenever she thought about Chat. Tikki appeared to have forgiven her and sat on Marinette's shoulder while she worked on her project. But Marinette wasn't so sure that she had forgiven herself. Guilt plagued her constantly and she wanted to apologize to Chat, but just didn't know how. 

"I think we need to go see Master Fu," she mused, sucking her thumb where she had stuck it with a pin for the third time today. She wasn't usually this clumsy while designing. What had gotten into her? "He may know something about the change in akumas. We need to find out why they are so much stronger." 

Tikki nodded approvingly. "I think you're right. But Marinette, you also need to take care of yourself. You haven't been eating much and I know that you haven't been sleeping well."

"I can't help it," Marinette shrugged. Her confused feelings about what had happened between her and Chat Noir were nagging at her constantly. 

"Maybe you should take a break and hang out with Adrien," Tikki suggested, touching Marinette's cheek gently. "That always cheers you up. And besides, you could use some time away from here."

Marinette smiled for the first time in days. Tikki had a point, maybe seeing Adrien would make her feel better. 

"Good idea," she nodded, pulling out her phone and quickly dialing Adrien's number. He picked up on the third ring. 

"Hey, Marinette. What's up?" Came his comforting voice. 

Her heart lifted significantly at the sound of his voice. At least she could always count on Adrien to make her day better. 

"I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere tonight." she replied, "I could really use a break from my scholarship project." 

"Sure, I'm free right now." Adrien said with a smile in his voice, "How about we meet up in ten minutes?" 

"Sure," Marinette replied softly, feeling slightly better. At least she had Adrien. "See you in ten minutes."


	14. Chapter 14

Adrien honestly didn't think that he had smiled even once in the past couple of days, not even when Plagg tried to cheer him up– which was rare because Plagg never cared about anything other than himself. And even though Marinette didn't know it, he really did need a night out with a friend. 

He let out a sigh and pushed his phone away and continued to stare and the shark tooth necklace on his desk. Admittedly, she had tried everything he could just to make a dent or even a scratch on the tooth, but nothing was able to penetrate it. Nothing except...

Holding his hand up to the light in front of the lamp, he stared down at his fingers and frowned. His cataclysm could break it, but would it be worth it?

A knock sounded at the front door of his apartment and thinking that it was just Nino popping in for a second, he didn't bother moving. Instead, he continued to inspect the necklace underneath the light. 

"Come in!" 

The door opened and closed, and he still didn't move, being too engrossed in trying to figure out why these akumatized items were so much stronger than they used to be years ago. Clearly, the akuma was still trapped inside, not being able to be released unless the artifact was broken or someone else put the necklace on. 

"Adrien?" a small female voice said from behind him. 

Adrien practically jumped a foot into the air and scrambled to swipe the necklace into the drawer with his hand, but in his haste, he knocked the lamp over and the lightbulb flickered out. "Marinette, hi! Sorry! I didn't realize that you'd be here so quickly." he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as he righted the lamp once more. Honestly, could he look any more stupid and idiotic in front of her?

Surprisingly, Marinette just smiled and gave him a warm hug. "You looked pretty focused there! What are you up to?" 

"Oh nothing," Adrien lied, "Just a project for work. Anyway, are you thirsty? Hungry?" he led her over to the kitchen and his embarrassment only became worse when he realized that he hadn't even taken the chain off of the refrigerator door like he usually did guests came over. 

Marinette raised a delicate eyebrow at him, "On a diet, I suppose?" 

Adrien chuckled nervously and shook his head all while using his key to unlock the fridge. He kept it locked only because Plagg would raid his fridge dry behind his back if he wasn't careful. In many ways, Plagg was like a three-year-old who was constantly needing to be watched. "No, if anything, I need to eat more. Actually, the door is broken, so I have to keep it locked." he took out a bottled water and handed it over to Marinette. 

"Camembert?" she teased, "You must really like this stuff if you have a dozen packages of it." 

"What can I say?" he nervously chuckled, "I love cheese," 

"Camembert..." Plagg moaned from inside the front pocket of Adrien's sweatshirt. 

"What was that?" Marinette asked, looking confusedly around the room. 

"Umm... my stomach! Let's go get some food. I'm starving!" 

Unfortunately, Adrien still felt completely taken off guard and flustered, so when he made a move to stoop down and put on one of his shoes, he lost his balance and hopped on one foot until he tripped over the wooden coffee table and landed in a heap on the ground, several objects from the table landing on top of him. Oh god. He felt just like Chat Noir getting all flustered over Ladybug. 

Very quickly, Marinette rushed over to his side and helped him to his feet. "Adrien! Are you okay?" 

He sighed and ran his hand down his face, his expression becoming somber at the thought of how Ladybug had completely crushed his heart into a million tiny pieces. "Sorry, Marinette. I've had an absolutely horrible week. Can we start over? Hi, Marinette! It's great to see you! Do you want to get something to eat with me?" 

Instead of smiling at his little joke, she looked more concerned than anything. "Are you alright? What happened?" 

Adrien shrugged and finally managed to put on his shoes without any further incident. "I don't really want to talk about it." And he couldn't talk about it, either. "There's a bistro just around the corner. Mind if we walk?" 

He didn't mean to sound so glum– he just couldn't sound chipper when he didn't really have the heart to.

Marinette just nodded and together they made their way down the street and found a nice table seated underneath the stars. It was a beautiful, warm winter night– nice and quiet, and dare he say, even a little romantic. Stars twinkled in the night sky and the music from the bistro created a calm and serene atmosphere. He felt overly grateful that Marinette wanted to spend this night with him. He'd drive himself crazy if he was alone with himself for much longer. 

After they ordered, only then did Marinette try to talk to him about his gloomy attitude again. "Is it your dad? Is he alright?" 

"Oh, he's fine. You don't' have to worry about him." 

"But I'm worried about you. Is it Alyssa? Did she break your heart?" 

He couldn't help it– he snorted with dry laughter. "She never had my heart, to begin with, so there's nothing for her to break."

"Did something else happen–" 

"I'm sorry Marinette," he interrupted. "It's not really something that I can talk about. I just want..." He swallowed and looked away from her as he tried to control his emotions from breaking through. "I just want to have an evening with a friend. If that's alright?" 

She nodded and they fell quiet until their food came. He really meant it when he told her that he hadn't eaten all day. His heart had felt too broken to eat anyways. 

"How's your project coming along?" Adrien asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

Marinette laughed and shook her head. "It would be done by now if I didn't keep getting distracted. I'm almost finished, but it still needs the last finishing touches. If I remember correctly, you said you would model it for me." 

The corner of Adrien's mouth twitched at her joke, but still, he didn't smile– which was strange for him. He tended to be a naturally happy and smiley person. But then again, he had never been this broken before. 

"Well I'm afraid I never made that promise," he joked back. "If anything, you were going to model it for me. That's how it works." 

"I don't know..." she said shyly as she blushed down at the table. "I'm not sure how great it would look on me." 

Adrien raised his eyebrows at her. "You're joking, right? I don't think that anyone would look better in it than you." He reached across the table to gather her hair is his hands, her whole body stilling against his touch. His fingers brushed across her neck as he pulled her hair to one side and gently twisted it around on one hand. "You could curl your hair and maybe drape it to the side. And that hairpiece I gave you would look really nice too." 

His heart sank when he realized that her colors would be red and black– just like Ladybug. Was he really that repulsive to Ladybug? Sure, she had snubbed him again and again, but she had never been so... nasty to him about his attempts. He would never have used her as a publicity stunt– she meant so much to him. But clearly, his feelings for her were unwelcome. The only awkward part about it all was that they'd still see each other whenever trouble arose, which it was doing more and more frequently. At the moment, he didn't want to be anywhere near enough for her to break his heart again.

Standing up suddenly, he changed the subject to help distract himself from Ladybug. "Do you want to go on a walk? The path through the park leads right back over to your house." 

She nodded and paid for both their meals before taking the lead towards the park. Tonight felt so warm despite the snow piled on the edges of the path through the park. Each snowflake sparkled beautifully underneath the romantic moonlight. 

"Are you cold?" Adrien asked but Marinette just shook her head, "The cold has never really bothered me. I'm just like a warm-blooded feline so his weather feels purrrrfect to me." 

Marinette laughed and shoved him with her elbow. "You're sounding just like Chat Noir. Don't tell me his horrible puns are rubbing off on you too." 

"Horrible?" he gasped, holding his hand up to his heart as if he were offended. "I strive to be as hilarious and devilishly handsome as Chat Noir." 

"Well that wouldn't be setting the bar too high," Marinette said as she rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure if Ladybug has her daily fill of Chat Noir's nonsense." 

Adrien shuffled his feet as he walked and stared down at the ground. He was feeling so empty inside. Maybe Marinette was right, but he couldn't bring himself to agree with her. "Yeah..." he said although he hadn't meant it. Every time he thought of Ladybug, his heart hurt all over again. Maybe he just wasn't as likable as Chat Noir, but that didn't mean he wasn't likable as Adrien either, did it? They were the same person... right?

Marinette lightly touched Adrien's arm, and her touch was so kind that it nearly undid him. He had to look up at the sky to keep tears from falling from his eyes. 

"Did I say something wrong?" she asked softly. 

"No, it's nothing you said. Like I mentioned earlier, it's just been a really rough week for me. I really don't mean to be such a killjoy tonight?" 

She shook her head and to his surprise, she slid her hand into his and gave his fingers a squeeze. "You're not a killjoy. I'm enjoying spending time with you. I just wish there was more I could do to make you happier." 

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and gave him a genuine smile, returning the squeeze and not letting go of her hand. The warmth from her hand somehow helped fill the aching hole in his heart. "Thanks, Marinette. I've never met anyone as kind as you." 

Even in the darkness, Adrien could see the faint blush that rose in her cheeks. Just seeing that made the back of his ears turn red and he had to look away from her. Although his heartfelt completely empty at the moment, he still thought that her reaction was cute. 

Marinette's hand was so comforting in his own as if they had resumed that friendship that had been postponed for a few years in his absence. She didn't pull her hand away, and for that, he felt extremely grateful. Her touch seemed to be the only thing that brought him peace at that moment in time. 

Sighing as they walked, Adrien asked, "Do you ever wish that something in your life could happen a certain way, but no matter how hard you try to make it work, the world's forces seem to be working against you?" 

"Almost every day of my life," she laughed. "Life never really seems to go as planned, does it?" 

"Not really." 

At last, they arrived at her house and stood out front, Marinette's pink cheeks stung from the chill in the winter air. Snowflakes began drifting down from the darkened skies, erasing all sound from the night. Adrien almost hated to have to say goodbye because he didn't really want to be alone right now, but at least he had Plagg. And he did plan on seeing his father tonight anyways. 

Adrien gave her a sad smile that didn't quite reach his eyes before he lifted her hand to his lips and gave her knuckles a gentle kiss. "Thanks, Marinette. You're a great friend." 

Marinette opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it as if her tongue was tied in knots. So he gave her just one last wave and bid her goodnight as she disappeared from view. However, he soon as he was out of her line of sight, he transformed into Chat Noir and used the shadows to conceal himself from the onlookers. He didn't want to be alone, but he did at the same time.

Finally, he found a lone rooftop close to his father's house and sat down with his legs dangling over the side, staring at the snowflakes drifting gracefully and silently from the purple and blue-white clouds circling above. 

Adrien let out a long, sorrowful sigh. It was times like these that he wished he could be halfway across the world. Maybe he could even visit the ancient origins of the first Chat Noir in Egpyt. Then he could discover who he really was when the mask came on. What did it mean to be Chat Noir? What was his purpose? Without Ladybug in his life, his life felt purposeless. Surely there was more to his identity than destroying akumas and taking down bad guys. 

He jumped in fright as his phone chimed in his pocket and he grimaced when he saw the caller ID. 

"Hey, Dad. I was just on my way over." 

"You're late, Adrien. I thought we'd agreed you'd here almost a half an hour ago." 

"I know, I'm sorry. I got caught up with something. I'll be there soon." 

After hanging up the phone, he jumped down from the building and quickly changed into Adrien as he walked the rest of the way to his father's house. He needed to be cheerful, or at least act as though nothing was bothering him. 

"Hey, Dad. I–" 

Immediately, Adrien stopped right in his tracks as he stared wide-eyed at the lone figure sitting at the table sitting across from his father– Lucie. 

"Lucie, what?" 

His ex-girlfriend smiled softly and stood up from the table to give him a light kiss on the cheek. "Awww, I missed you, boo-bear. We just couldn't cut into the cake without you. It would be wrong." 

Adrien clenched his fists as he stared back at Lucie. He wasn't necessarily angry that she was here. He felt angry that she was here on his mother's birthday of all days. She wasn't part of his family and she never would be. Never ever. 

Still, Adrien sat down at the table with his father and Lucie, not wanting to cause any contention on his mom's birthday. This was something his family considered a sacred time, one that shouldn't be interrupted by his ex-girlfriend barging in.

Out of respect for his mom, he waited until after they had cut into the cake before saying anything. 

"Lucie, we broke up." 

"Yes, a very unfortunate turn of events." Gabriel sighed as he adjusted his glasses. "I do wish you'd reconsider, Adrien. Lucie is an outstanding young woman." he smiled softly as he gazes across the table. "She reminds me a lot of your mother when she had been here." 

"No," Adrien said, shaking his head abruptly. "I'm not– I can't– Dad, I'm sorry." 

Lucie smiled despite and reached out for Adrien's hands. "I'm sure we can still make it work, Adrien. I already feel like a part of your family. It would break my heart to have to go." 

Adrien's lips pressed together with uncertainty. Now that Ladybug didn't want anything to do with him and felt so sad and lonely and Lucie felt so familiar. She was a safe place despite his lack of feelings for her. He almost didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't want to be involved with her anymore. Almost. 

"I'm sorry, Lucie. It's just... it's not a good time for me right now." 

"Well, your dad wants me to keep coming around so I will. I know that you'll change your mind soon, Adrien. We're good together." 

The conversation soon took a lighter note as she and his father talked about their plans over the holidays. Lucie planned on coming over for Christmas and Gabriel seemed overly ecstatic over the idea. Why? Why did his father like her so much? That really didn't make sense.

He stopped listening to the conversation as his attention became enraptured by the gold and purple necklace hanging around Lucie's neck. It drew him in like a magnet. Almost as if he could reach out and touch it and immediately become swallowed within its depths. The necklace was just so beautiful. So enthralling. So– 

Adrien quickly shook away his confusing thoughts. Something wasn't right about that necklace, but he couldn't even begin to fathom what. Still, he couldn't stop thinking about it. 

To take his thoughts away from the necklace, he thought about the shark tooth instead. Something wasn't right about that, either. Perhaps it was time to pay Master Fu a visit. He just didn't entirely like the idea of Ladybug coming along...


	15. Chapter 15

Standing in front of her mirror, Marinette surveyed her gown critically. Would it be good enough for the selection committee? She had been extra careful to make everything perfect. But would they like it?

"Wow, Marinette," Tikki piped up, "That dress is amazing! You're going to blow the committee away." 

Beaming with pride, Marinette smiled at her kwami. "Thanks, Tikki. I guess I should call Adrien so we can do the photoshoot." 

Sitting down at her desk, she picked up her phone. But she hesitated, her thumb hovering over the screen. Her stomach fluttered wildly as the memories of the time they had spent together a few nights ago flickered through her mind. Adrien had kissed her! Granted, it had only been her hand, but he had still kissed it. It had felt so wonderful to hold his hand. Her fingers tingled and warmed at the memory. 

And yet... 

Marinette pursed her lips as she glanced down at her phone. Adrien had seemed so sad the other day. She wished that she knew what was going on with him so that she could help. Her own heart thrilled every time she remembered his lips brushing against her knuckles, but even that moment hadn't quite banished the sadness from his eyes. Was he upset about his breakup with Lucie? That didn't seem likely– he hadn't seemed sad about breaking up with her at all. An uncomfortable feeling nagged at her chest. Did he not want anything more than friendship with her? She had been the one who had moved away– did he think that whatever they could have would only be temporary and she would leave again? 

"Why are you hesitating?" Tikki asked gingerly. "You've been so happy for the past few days. What's wrong?" 

"I don't know," Marinette groaned, trying to dismiss the worries that had snagged in her mind. She didn't know what to think. And if she was completely honest with herself, every time she pictured Adrien's kiss, Chat Noir kissing her cheek flashed through her mind. It had been so unexpected and... wonderful. She never thought that she would enjoy being kissed by Chat, which made her all the more uncomfortable with it. 

Tikki zoomed over to Marinette and settled herself on top of her head. "Marinette, you're worrying too much. He offered to help, and you like him. Listen to your heart and everything will turn out how it's supposed to." 

"You're right." Marinette nodded, picking up her phone. She would see where things were going with Adrien. And next time she saw Chat, she'd apologize to him and tell him the truth about why she had gotten so angry with him. He deserved that much and Marinette wanted to patch things up with him. 

Pressing the button, she dialed Adrien's number, breathing a deep sigh of relief when she heard a smile in Adrien's voice. 

"Hey, Mari. What's going on?" 

Trying to suppress her own idiotic grin, Marinette said, "I just finished my dress. Are you still up for that photo shoot? I have to get it submitted for consideration by Wednesday." 

"Sure," Adrien agreed readily. "How about coming over to my dad's house? He has a studio we can use for a little while. Does tomorrow morning work for you?" 

"Perfect," Marinette replied, "See you then." 

She had expected that the conversation would end at that point, but to her surprise, Adrien kept talking. 

"I've been practicing up, I think I can beat you at Ultimate Mecha Strike III now." 

Marinette giggled, "Oh you do, do you? Well, then we need to have a rematch." 

They talked for the better part of an hour before Adrien reluctantly told her that he needed to get back to work. After saying their goodbyes, Marinette squeezed her phone to her chest in sheer delight. She didn't know where things were going with Adrien, only that she was happy. 

∞ ∞ ∞

The next day, Marinette appeared at the intimidating wrought iron gates of the Agreste manor and rang the bell. She had done her hair and makeup before leaving the house and carried the dress in a garment bag over her shoulder. She pushed the doorbell and a hidden compartment on the wall opened and a camera appeared. Marinette jumped– she would never get used to that creepy security system. 

"Yes?" Nathalie's voice floated out through the speaker. 

Marinette smiled, "Um... hi. Adrien is expecting me." 

The camera retreated and the gates parted, allowing her to walk up to the mansion. Adrien stepped down the stairs as Nathalie showed Marinette inside. 

"Hey," his face immediately brightened as he caught sight of the silver comb Marinette had carefully nestled in her dark curls. "Nice comb. Whoever picked that out must have great taste."

Laughing, Marinette nodded. "Yeah, I got it for this really nice guy I know." 

Adrien's smile widened. "Are you ready for the photoshoot?" 

"I just have to change. I didn't want to walk over here wearing a huge ballgown." 

Adrien feigned shock as though he had just noticed she wore a pair of pink jeans and a grey hoodie. 

"Are you meaning to say this isn't your dress?" 

Marinette swatted him playfully on the arm with a laugh. "Come on. Where can I go to put this on?" 

"There's a dressing room in the studio," Adrien replied, gesturing for her to follow him, "I'll show you." 

Marinette followed Adrien down the stairs, trying not to gawk at the Agreste mansion. She had been in here several times, but she had never quite gotten over how luxurious it was. 

"Right in here," Adrien pointed to a door on the right-hand side of the room. A white backdrop was already set up along with several lights and other equipment that Marinette couldn't even begin to name. "I'll finish setting up my stuff while you change." 

Nodding, Marinette went into the dressing room, closing the door behind her. All four of the walls were mirrors and saw herself reflected hundreds of times in them. Quickly changing into her dress, Marinette peeked out of the dressing room and watched Adrien. He was so cute when he became wholly absorbed in what he was doing. He stuck his tongue between his teeth as he finished adjusting one last light, his concentration seeming unbreakable. Marinette stepped out and watched him for a few seconds longer until he turned around and tripped over the rolled up edge of the backdrop when he saw her. 

"Wow," he said, quickly righting himself. "You look... I mean... you're so... wow!" 

Marinette couldn't help but blush, "It's the dress, Adrien." 

"No, it's not. That's all you." he smiled, nearly tripping again as he backed up to retrieve his camera. "Should we, uh, get started?" 

Nodding, Marinette stepped forward awkwardly. "I've never done this before, so don't laugh." 

"I won't," Adrien grinned, tipping her a wink. "Much," 

They spent the next hour taking photos– Adrien walked her through different poses and took pictures as they bantered back and forth until they were both laughing so hard that they couldn't stop. Marinette grinned from ear to ear, she couldn't remember the last time she'd have this much fun. 

"Wow," Adrien said as they lounged on a couple of beanbag chairs when they were done. "I don't know why you've never modeled before, Mari. You look so beautiful." 

A tinge of color heated Marinette's cheeks. "Really?" 

"Really," Adrien replied, turning his camera so that she could see, scooting a little closer. Marinette stared at the picture. Adrien had done an amazing job at capturing her at her best. The pictures made her feel beautiful. 

"See?" Adrien asked, smiling a little shyly at her. "Beautiful. You'll have tons of offers for internships" 

Her heart skipped a beat as she gazed into Adrien's earnest eyes. 

"You know, you've changed over the past few years," Adrien continued, flipping through the pictures once more. He paused on one of Marinette tilting her head back and laughing, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a smile. 

"Is that a good thing?" Marinette laughed, giving him a playful nudge with his elbow. 

Adrien chuckled and nodded. 

"Yeah, it is. You've grown into an amazing, confident girl. You're going to rock this internship." 

Marinette's heart fluttered at his nearness and she saw his eyes flick to her lips for the briefest of moments before the sound of an elevator door opening startled them apart. 

"Hello, Adrien," Gabriel Agreste wheeled himself into the room, his legs covered in a soft, purple blanket. "I wasn't aware that we had any company." 

"Hello, Mr. Agreste," Marinette said politely. "Adrien was just helping me with a project of mine. It was very kind of you to let us borrow your studio today." 

Gabriel eyed her up and down critically, "Turn for me." 

It wasn't a request, it was a command. Marinette nodded, turning on the spot so that her dress fanned out slightly around her ankles. 

"Well, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you've truly outdone yourself," he said, continuing to study her closely. "My company is having a fashion show on Friday. Would you like to attend? As my guest, of course." 

Marinette's heart leaped. If the notoriously picky Gabriel Agreste liked her design, it must be good. 

"I'd love to," she replied, beaming at Adrien who returned her smile with one of his signature grins. 

"Very well. I'll see to it that Nathalie gets you a ticket," Gabriel replied, wheeling back into the elevator. "See you Friday, Ms. Dupain-Cheng." 

When he was gone, Marinette impulsively squealed and hugged Adrien, "Did you hear that?! He liked my dress!" 

"I told you," Adrien chuckled, giving her a squeeze. "We'll send these photos to the committee as soon as I get them edited. You're going to knock their socks of, Mari."


	16. Chapter 16

For as long as Adrien had known Nino, he knew never to trust his advice. One time, it led him to end up swimming in a crocodile-infested lake. Another time, it had led him screaming and running away from a hive of bees. And the last time Adrien ever took Nino's dating advice, the girl ended up walking on the other side of the street if she even so much as saw him. But this time, his advice about asking Marinette out actually seemed to be producing fruit. Of course, the two of them weren't really dating... But he found himself happy around her. Sure, his heart still ached for Ladybug, but now he finally began to see a future where he'd be happy with someone else. Adrien actually wanted to see where things might go with Marinette... 

His smile immediately turned into a frown as he landed quietly on the balcony of Master Fu's healing shop as Chat Noir. The sign down below read "closed" but Adrien knew better. Master Fu was waiting for them, and not a single ounce of Adrien was looking forward to it. 

Taking a deep breath, Adrien glanced around him anxiously before opening the unlocked glass doors and perching himself on the metal railing while looking down at the two people waiting for him, sitting on the floor mats with their legs crossed, a lavender smelling incense burning between them– Master Fu and Ladybug. He and Ladybug made brief eye contact but they both quickly looked away. It seemed as though she felt just as uncomfortable as he did. 

Master Fu pressed his palms together and dipped his head to Adrien. "Chat Noir, I do have a front door." 

"But do cats really take the most conventional path?" Adrien joked, making himself comfortable on the railing– he didn't want to be a foot within Ladybug right now. "Besides, I have somewhere to be. Can we make this quick?" 

Master Fu suspiciously eyed Adrien and Ladybug, then frowned. "Contention never makes a great team." He lit more intense and the smell wafted into the air, instantly calming Adrien's nerves. But still, that didn't get rid of his hurt towards Ladybug. 

"Did you bring the necklace?" Ladybug asked and in response, Adrien tossed her the shark tooth that dangled from the cord, Ladybug catching it expertly and placing it down on the table in front of her. 

"The akumas are getting stronger," Adrien said, keeping his gaze focused on Master Fu. "Hawkmoth may have disappeared for several years, but now he's back and stronger than ever. I can't even break this tooth with a brick. Or a hammer. The akuma is still trapped inside." 

Raising his eyebrows at him, Master Fu asked, "And your claws?" 

Adrien frowned and looked away, "I don't want to use them." 

Master Fu sighed, "You cannot be afraid of your power, Chat Noir. That power was meant to collapse pyramids, to defeat beasts. You cannot fully be Chat Noir until you embrace who you are, even the parts that scare you. People may have gotten hurt, but you cannot let that hinder you." 

"Not just any person," Adrien said quietly. "The very last person I have left in my life." 

He reached for his black tail and absent-mindedly spun it around in circles so he wouldn't have to look at anyone else. He especially didn't like the sad look that Ladybug gave him. Usually, he was decently open with her, but he had never told even her that much. 

"Chat, I didn't know," Ladybug said softly, "I'm so sorry."

It was just a little too late for apologies. He wasn't sure anything she could say could fix the broken shards she had turned his heart into. 

Adrien shrugged off her words and tried to focus on the task at hand. "What could possibly make the akumas so powerful? This doesn't seem normal."

"That's because it's not," Master Fu said as he stood up creakily from where he sat and she shuffled to the other side of the room to grab a large, dusty book. "Hawkmoth's miraculous was never meant to be this powerful. The only way that Hawkmoth could reach this type of power is through the help of an ancient artifact that was believed to be destroyed hundreds of thousands of years ago." 

"What artifact?" Ladybug asked curiously as she craned her head to get a better look at the book. 

"The Amulet of Sekhmet. Sekhmet was the Egyptian goddess of lions, the sun, and fire, and the amulet was created for a pharaoh named Khufu. Legend has it that his rule was so wicked that it even attracted the attention of the gods. Khufu traded his soul for this amulet in order to defeat his enemies and attempt to overthrow all of Egypt and beyond to the rest of the world." 

Adrien finally hopped down from his perch and landed gracefully on his feet so he could take a look at the sketch of the papyrus. "What happened? Obviously, Khufu wasn't successful." 

Master Fu shook his head, "No, he wasn't. The miraculous holders assembled together to stop him and in the war, destruction lay in his wake. Many buildings and artifacts were destroyed in the war, never to resurface again. The Amulet of Sekhmet was one of them. The miraculous holders claimed that the Amulet of Sekhmet had been destroyed." 

"But it wasn't," Ladybug pointed out. 

"The fact that it still exists means that one of the ancient miraculous holders turned out to be a traitor. Who, though, I couldn't say." 

Finally glancing up to meet Ladybug's eyes, Adrien said, "This must be the same artifact that was stolen from the Louvre a while ago. If we found out who took it, we'll find Hawkmoth." 

"I advise the two of you to be careful," Master Fu said as he leaned in on his cane. "This artifact has killed thousands of people in the past. Don't let the same things happen again, and whatever you do, don't get yourselves killed." Then he motioned with his head towards the shark tooth. "You both know what to do." 

Adrien frowned as he stared at the tooth. It looked innocent enough, but he didn't really want to use his powers again. Sure, Master Fu said he should have been afraid of it, but he hesitated. He could never forgive himself if he hurt either himself or Ladybug. 

He took a deep breath and allowed the black wispy tendrils to seep from his fingertips. It had been years since he used this power, but it felt so familiar to him all the same. With one expert scratch, he broke the shark tooth in half and out came a black fluttering butterfly that Ladybug quickly caught and released, sending it back up to the sky as a pure, white butterfly. 

Master Fu smiled, and despite his short hight, he reached up and clapped Adrien on the shoulder. That wasn't so bad, now was it?" 

No, it wasn't that bad, actually. In reality, it felt good– relieving even– to let that power free once more.

"Crap, I need to go," Adrien said as he glanced down at his watch. "Master Fu, we'll find whoever is responsible for all the akumas and bring them to justice. I promise." 

He leaped to the balcony once more and was just about to disappear into the evening air when Ladybug followed after and stopped him with a hand around his wrist. The contact took him by complete surprise, but then he masked his emotions once more. 

"Chat, I need to apologize for what I said to you," she said softly, out of earshot from Master Fu. "I didn't mean what I said. I just felt... flustered. You usually are flirty all the time, but this time I just..." 

"You don't need to apologize," Adrien said as he slid his wrist out of her grasp. "I get it. I've had six whole years of 'getting it'. You're the amazing Ladybug and I'm just Chat Noir." 

Ladybug shook her head insistently. "No, Chat. You don't get it. You're my best friend. I didn't want that to be ruined. You just so much to me." 

Adrien ignored the quiet beeping on his ring, meaning that he'd only have a minute before he'd change back to his regular self. His fingers lightly brushed against Ladybug's cheek, and to his surprise, she didn't flinch away, especially as he gazed back into her beautiful bluebell eyes. 

"I can't be just friends with you, Ladybug." His voice held a tortured tone to it, but he needed to tell her the truth. "I love you. I have since the moment I've met you." Tears fell from her eyes, but still, he had to continue, "I love you and I can't only be your best buddy." 

More tears fell and she moved away from him, looking away while wiping the tears away with her polka-dot gloves, "I'm sorry, Chat. I love someone else."

He nodded and took a step away. After all, he wasn't stupid– he had expected as much. But he had to at least try, otherwise, he could never forgive himself. However, he didn't realize how difficult it was to give her a smile and hide the hurt that was festering inside his heart. "Thank you for telling me. At least now I can move on." He turned to leave but looked back one last time. "If you really meant what you said– about how much our friendship means to you– then show me who you really are. Show me who you are beneath the mask." 

Her tears came harder as she shook her head, seeming to shrink inside herself. After all these years, she still didn't trust him enough to show herself to him. So did that mean that her words meant nothing? Perhaps their friendship didn't mean as much to her as it did to him. 

Adrien didn't say another word as he leaped off the balcony and disappeared from sight. He wouldn't bother Ladybug anymore in his attempts to gain her heart, but it did nothing to quell the ache inside of him. 

Thankfully, Plagg said nothing as Adrien transformed himself back into himself and climbed into his car, feeling as though he hadn't used it in ages. He practiced taking deep breathes as he drove to Marinette's house and parked out in front. After all, he had a date tonight with a cute girl, with a cute personality, and a cute smile. Adrien really liked Marinette and now that Ladybug was out of the picture, he could finally put that part of himself behind him and focus on the road ahead. He was going to have fun tonight and he'd be cheerful too. Marinette deserved that and more. 

Taking one more deep breath, Adrien climbed out of the car and knocked on Marinette's front door. It didn't even take him by surprise when Tom answered it, doing his best to look formidable. It might have worked except for the part where he wore a jovial expression beneath his frown. 

"I want her back by midnight," Tom said, but then he broke down in smiles and in a way, started giggling before he had to excuse himself from the room. Even Sabine couldn't stop smiling. Adrien hoped that meant Marinette's parents liked him. 

"You look so handsome!" Sabine said as he straightened Adrien's suit jacket. "I'm glad that she's going out with a good guy like you. She's been away for so long, I got a little worried," 

Adrien smiled, "Thanks, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng." 

Marinette came tumbling down the stairs at that moment, her hair looking a little frazzled as she slipped her pink heels on. But even then, he couldn't help himself from gawking. She looked beautiful in her pink knee-length dress, and he just couldn't help but like the way her heels made her look just a little bit taller. 

A laugh escaped Adrien as he helped center Marinette and smoothed her hair down with his hand. "You look beautiful, Mari," he said softly as he spun her around to get a better view of her. "Don't tell me you were procrastinating getting ready for this event that you were looking forward to so much." 

"I wasn't, I swear! I just got wrapped up in something else and lost track of time." 

He chuckled again and wrapped his arm around her waist while leading her outside, but not before she waved to her parent's goodbye. She stopped short when she noticed his car, a look of surprise on her face. 

"What?" he asked with a teasing grin. "You didn't actually think I didn't own a car, did you?"

"Well, I-I-We've walked everywhere else, so I'm just a little surprised." 

"I like walking. I get to see more of the city that way." 

Adrien opened the door for her and she slid into her seat, and again, he took a deep breath and let it out, his breath fogging in the cold winter air. No matter what, he was going to have fun tonight and he wouldn't bring Marinette down like he did last time. He really wanted her to enjoy this and he wanted to enjoy it too.

As he climbed into the car, he gave Marinette a genuine smile. "I hope you're ready for a great fashion show." 

She easily returned his smile. "If it has the name 'Agreste' behind it, I know it will be good. I'm so glad that I get to go." 

"So am I, Marinette. So am I."


	17. Chapter 17

Marinette tried to appear calmer than she felt. Her insides practically danced the conga as she looked around the fashion show. She couldn't believe that she was here! Not only that, but she had a backstage pass thanks to Adrien's father. All of the best designers– many that she had studied in school and admired for as long as she could remember– were here. Gabriel Agreste had brought them all together to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of his company. Gazing around, Marinette watched as the designers prepared their models for the show. She wanted to squeal, but she had to at least pretend not to fangirl all over the place. 

"So?" Adrien elbowed her playfully. "Is this everything you hoped for?" 

Laughing lightly, Marinette nodded, "Definitely! I'm so glad that your dad got me this pass!" 

"Me too. I like seeing you this happy," Adrien nodded, sliding his hand into hers and giving it a gentle tug. "Come on, let me introduce you around." 

Adrien guided her through the crowd, introducing her to some of the most famous designers in the world, including Olivia Stone, the wife of Jagged Stone.

"You are so darling!" Oliva drawled in her American accent, "You must be the girl who designed those awesome Eiffel Tower sunglasses for Jag." 

Marinette felt her jaw drop as she nodded, "How did you know?" 

"Jagged told me about you," Olivia smiled, her tone turning teasing. "In fact, I was a little jealous when I first met him. We met because I was designing his wardrobe and he talked about you a lot." 

Blushing, Marinette mumbled her thanks. They talked a few more minutes by being interrupted by a loud "Adrikiiiiiiiiiinnnnnssssss!" 

Turning, Marinette saw a blonde blur launch herself at Adrien. She tried not to roll her eyes as Chloe practically wrapped herself around Adrien. Biting back a smile as Adrien tried to pry her off, Marinette greeted her. 

"Hi, Chloe,"

Chloe turned her gaze to Marinette, as though just now realizing that they had an audience. 

"Oh, look who it is! My favorite person, Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she said sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at Marinette. "I don't know if you know, but this is a fashion show. I can't believe someone let you in here, there must be a mistake." 

Marinette raised her eyebrows. Same old Chloe.

"Actually, Chloe," Adrien grimaced, "My father let her in here."

He gestured to Marinette's pass that hung from a black lanyard around her neck. "What are you doing here anyway?" 

"Oh, I'm modeling for Jean Paul Gaultier. He needed a last-minute substitute and as you all know, he's friends with Daddy, so naturally, he thought of me first." 

"Well then it's too bad she didn't think of you, to begin with," Marinette said, keeping her face deliberately blank. "That would have saved her the trouble of finding a substitute." 

Chloe mouthed wordlessly as Marinette swept past her towards Adrien with her head held high. She deserved what she got. A second later, she heard Adrien snort as though he had been trying to hold back laughter the whole time. 

"That was awesome," he grinned. "Sorry about Chloe. She clearly hasn't grown up since high school." 

Marinette giggled, "It's okay. It was fun to see her again... until she opened her mouth."

Laughing together, Adrien guided her towards where his father stood. But Marinette's laughter quickly died when she saw Lucie approaching them.

"Hi, babe!" Lucie greeted him with a kiss, just long enough and passionate enough to make Marinette look away in embarrassment. Why had Lucie called Adrien babe? Hadn't they broken up?

"I've been looking for you everywhere for you. Your father wants us at the pre-show party with all of the models and designers."

What had she been thinking? Adrien had never said that they were exclusive, or for that matter, even said that they were dating. She looked down at her shoes, the scene getting more and more awkward by the second. 

"Well, I think I'm gonna... I gonna go," she said softly, backing away. Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment. She never should have assumed...

"Oh, wait, wait, Mari," Adrien stopped her with an outstretched hand. His brow furrowed and Marinette couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Don't go. Just, come to the party. You know Lucie, and..." 

"Yes, come out for a drink," Lucie purred, putting her hand possessively on Adrien's chest. 

"I would. I'd love to. I just, um, I'm going to go find my seat." Marinette excused herself, "I'll see you guys later." 

Shoulders slumped, Marinette made her way through the crowds, feeling completely and utterly alone. She found her seat in the reserved section, a little annoyed that Adrien's name was on the seat next to hers. She had been so dumb. So completely...

"Marinette!" Adrien called out breathlessly, catching up to her in three quick strides. He had clearly run through the crowd to find her. She waited, wishing that the floor would open up and swallow her. 

"I'm sorry about that," 

Marinette shrugged, "There's nothing to be sorry about. She's your girlfriend." 

"No," Adrien grimaced, taking her hand in his and gazing into her eyes earnestly. "She's not my girlfriend." 

Marinette's breath hitched in her throat as Adrien's eyes flicked down to her lips. He opened his mouth to say something else but at that moment a loud rumble filled the room, causing both of them to look up. Marinette's stomach lurched as she recognized the same pitch black clouds she had seen at the Eiffel Tower gathering around the stage, purple lightning crawling across them. 

"Oh no," she murmured as the clouds turned into a black and purple swarm of butterflies, surrounding the formation of a person. 

"Hawkmoth," Adrien growled through gritted teeth. 

But Marinette just kept staring, something was different about Hawkmoth. When the butterflies cleared, she saw exactly what it was. This wasn't the old Hawkmoth. This was a woman. She wore a silver mask and a black cape. Her hair was covered by a hood, but a glowing pendant at her throat was gleaming brightly in the darkness. 

"What are Ladybug and Chat Noir?" the woman called out, "I think that it's time we meet." 

"I have to go," Marinette and Adrien said at the exact same moment, turning around to run in opposite directions. Marinette assumed that Adrien would be checking in on his father since he had been so badly injured in the last large Hawkmoth attack. She didn't hesitate as she opened her purse and Tikki zoomed out. 

"Spots on!" Marinette cried, glancing back the way she came as she transformed. Her stomach churned as she remembered what Master Fu had said about the ancient artifact making Hawkmoth's power even stronger. That must be the necklace she wore. With a sick feeling, she remembered the last time that she and Chat had gone up against Hawkmoth. If this woman's powers were so much stronger, this encounter would be infinitely worse than the last. They had to get everyone out of here. 

Using her yo-yo, Marinette swung herself over to the crowds of people and onto the stage. Below her, she heard Chloe's voice and looked down. 

"Ladybug! Remember me? I'm your biggest fan!" 

Marinette tried not to roll her eyes as she landed lightly in front of Hawkmoth. 

"I heard you were looking for me." 

The female Hawkmoth smirked. "What? Do I only get half of the dynamic duo? How very disappointing." 

"If you think that's true, you've cat another thing coming." a deep voice said from just above Marinette. She looked up just as Chat Noir launched himself at Lady Hawkmoth, knocking her to the ground. 

"Get the people to the exits!" he barked the order at Marinette. "I'll hold her off." 

Marinette nodded, beginning to shepherd people in the direction of emergency exits. She turned back to see Chat Noir grappling with Lady Hawkmoth. 

"Chat!" she called over the heads of people as they made their way to the exits. His caught hers and for the briefest of moments, her heart thumped traitorously in her chest. He was definitely handsome... She shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking about that. 

"Please be careful!" 

Chat shot her a grin that made her heart thump all over again. "I always am, M'lady."


	18. Chapter 18

Adrien pounced on the new female Hawkmoth, wincing as the purple butterflies swirled around him and cut into his skin. Just one of them didn't do much damage, but a whole swarm of them hurt more than he thought possible. Even the small motion of holding Hawkmoth down took more effort than anything ever had. 

To his surprise, Hawkmoth laughed menacingly as she stared up into his eyes. "So you're the infamous Chat Noir. Oh, I have lots of plans for you. Revenge, of course, being the first on my list." 

"What are you talking about?" Chat winced as another sharp butterfly wing cut into his arm, drawing blood. But even then, he couldn't stop staring at the necklace that was dangled from Lady Hawkmoth's neck. He's seen that necklace before. On... Lucie! "I've done nothing wrong!" 

"Oh, no, not to me you haven't. Not really. But my revenge is my mentor's revenge. By the time my reign of terror is over, you'll be dead." 

He ducked down just in time to avoid a razor sharp wing to his face. "Why are you telling me this? Why not just end me now?" Through the swirling purple and black chaos, Adrien caught sight of Ladybug herding frantic, screaming guests out. Those who couldn't get outside fast enough ended up getting akumatized quickly. He had to stop this from happening! He had to help everyone! But he couldn't let Hawkmoth escape. Not this time. 

Hawkmoth grinned, her eyes lighting up evilly beneath her silver mask. "I do like a good game of cat and mouse. But in this case, I think you'll find the mouse comes out on top. I'm not going to make the same mistakes as my mentor and tease you and Ladybug with parlor tricks. I assure you that your death will be quick, but it most certainly won't be painless." 

Adrien had to act now! Otherwise, he might be too late. 

When he struck out to grab Hawkmoth's necklace, the swarm of purple picked up around him until he could no longer tell which way was up and which way was down. That was when the moths secreted a purple smoke that Adrien couldn't help but inhale, but the smoke proved to be toxic. He coughed and wheezed and coughed again until he could hardly breathe at all. Panic set in as he tied to fill his lungs with air, but couldn't. This was how he was going to die. He had never seen this coming, but this certainly would be how he would die. 

Blindly, he struck out in an attempt to attack Hawkmoth, but she had disappeared as though she were simply thin air, and with her, the moths started trickling out of the room one by one. The dark haze of moths may have disappeared, but it did nothing to stop the pain burning through Adrien's lungs. 

"Chat!" Ladybug screamed from across the room, and before he knew it, a strong pair of arms had picked him up and they swung out of there by her yo-yo, Adrien hardly hanging on to consciousness. He tried to speak to her, but he felt as if he was drowning. Panic set in yet again. 

Ladybug landed on the rooftop of the building and immediately knelt by his side as she laid him down in the soft powdery snow. The fresh air helped miraculously and allowed him to take in the wheeziest of breaths, but his breaths were quick and short as if he couldn't get enough air. It felt as if he was breathing through a straw and instead of it getting better, it only got worse. 

"Oh my god, Chat! I need to get you to a hospital," Ladybug said as she cradled his face gently in her hands, "Just hold on Chat. Please hold on." 

She wrapped her arm around his waist in preparation to pick him up again, but he shook his head, attempting to push her away despite how weak he felt. 

"No," he gasped, "They'll... find... out... who... I... am..." 

More fire erupted in his lung once more and his head started to feel hot. The imagine of Ladybug's black and red figure burned in and out of his vision. If he were to die, there was no place he'd rather do it than in Ladybug's arms. 

"Chat!" Ladybug cried, "Just do as I say!" Tears were now streaking down her face. "You know that I can't heal you! Just look at you! Chat, please! You're dying!" 

Adrien latched tightly onto Ladybug's hand, willing her to never, ever, let go. "It means... to much... to you. You... made me... promise..." 

"No! It doesn't matter! Chat! It doesn't matter!" Her gentle hands cradled his face again but his eyes couldn't focus anymore. "Please, Chat," she whispered, "It doesn't matter. Your life means more to me than hiding your identity. Detransform and I'll take you to the hospital." 

His breathing became even more labored until he could hardly draw a single breath into his lungs. As Chat Noir, he found that he disliked water the longer that he stayed as Chat. He had never liked to imagine himself drowning, but this felt way worse than he had ever imagined drowning to be. It felt as if he was breathing in fire and it just wouldn't leave his lungs. 

With what he thought was his very last breath, his body became limp and he whispered, "I won't." 

Although Adrien's eyes closed, he could very faintly hear Ladybug's voice. "You're so stubborn, Chat! If you won't, then I'll force you!" 

Adrien felt a light pressure on his hand as Ladybug slid his ring off his finger followed by a loud gasp, but he was already slipping away until he could feel nothing, hear nothing, and see nothing. However, the very presence of Ladybug gave him comfort, With her near, he felt as if he could die happy. After all, Ladybug was his everything, right? 

Right? 

Right?...


	19. Chapter 19

Marinette dropped Chat's ring as though it had burned her, letting it fall in the snow at her feet. 

"A-Adrien?" she gasped, her lungs suddenly feeling like all the air had been sucked out of them. It couldn't be... 

Marinette let out a cry, her hands flying to her mouth. The pieces started falling into the place as the realization of Adrien's secret hit her. All this time, all the countless hours that they had spent together... and she had never known the truth. 

Shock kept Marinette rooted to the spot for several more seconds as though she had suddenly been paralyzed. It was as though her brain couldn't catch up to what had happened... 

A moan from Adrien brought her back to reality and she crouched down next to him. 

"No, no, no, no, NO. Adrien, please, please be alright." 

She couldn't breathe from fear but she mechanically pulled Adrien's limp form onto her shoulders, her knees threatening to buckle under his weight. She would never get far this way, but she had to try for Adrien's sake. 

Using her yo-yo, she managed to construct a pulley system that she could use to lower the both of them to ground level. The moment her feet touched the ground, they collapsed underneath her. 

"Someone help!" she nearly sobbed. "He's dying! We need to get him to a hospital right away!" 

Marinette had never felt so helpless in her entire life. Being Ladybug had always given her confidence, but right now she was completely helpless to save Adrien. Sirens wailed in the distance and a few moments later, an ambulance arrived. She could only watch anxiously as the paramedics swarmed around Adrien's limp form, cutting the shirt off of his torso, applying the defibrillators. She wanted to cry as they pushed a clear breathing tube down his throat, but somehow the tears wouldn't come. She felt numb. She could only stare as the paramedics worked feverishly over Adrien. They had to restart his heart twice, and each time it felt like a blow to her own heart. Adrien was dying... 

"This isn't going to work," she whispered to herself, clinging to the only idea she had left. Pulling out her yo-yo, she swung herself upwards and ran along the rooftops. Snow was starting to fall thick and fast around her, and she prayed she would be able to find what she was looking for. 

Darting around chimneys and swinging herself across streets, she, at last, caught sight of the comforting outline of Master Fu's apartment building. She swung herself down and frantically pounded on the door. 

"Come on..." she muttered, rubbing her arms against the cold for a brief moment before hammering harder on the door. 

Master Fu opened the door, a look of concern crossing his face. "What has happened?" 

"It's Adrien," Marinette's tears finally began to fall, creating streaks down her face. "Hawkmoth used some kind of new akuma power on him and he's dying. You have to help him. There has to be a way."

Master Fu looked grave as he opened the door wider to let her in, "Let me get my things," 

Marinette nodded, staring blindly through her tears at the off-white wall. She couldn't bear to lose both Chat Noir and Adrien, it would crush her completely. Sobbing, she cowered down by the window, and wished, for the first time in her life, that if he died, she could die too. She couldn't go on if he died, she just couldn't. 

"Let's go," Master Fu muttered, pulling on his coat. "We must be quick." 

For the first time in her life, Marinette saw Master Fu transform into his miraculous form. His suit was green with webs between his fingers and a hard shell covering his back and torso. As soon as he transformed, they charged out into the night, clambering over rooftops towards the hospital. Marinette was impressed with the speed and agility Master Fu possessed. For such an old man, he was hard to keep up with. 

"Where is Adrien Agreste?" Marinette gasped when they entered the hospital. "We may be the only ones who can help him." 

A nurse gestured to the set of doors on her right that led to the ICU. 

"I don't know what you think you can do," she said grimly. "The doctors are expecting him to die at any minute."

"Thank you!" Marinette cried out, dragging Master Fu behind her through the doors. She raced past room after room until she found Adrien lying in a dimly lit room, his face nearly gray against the white sheets. Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard stood nearby, but Mr. Agreste was nowhere to be seen. 

"Clear the room," Master Fu ordered, going about his work as though he owned the place, "I need to see the patient without interference." 

Nathalie nodded deferentially, "We'll wait outside,"

As soon as they were out of the room, Master Fu set to work, waving what looked like a white crystal over Adrien's body. 

"Is he going to be okay?" 

"Silence please," Master Fu cut her off before she could ask any more questions. 

"Reading energies," 

He picked up a small bronze gong and rang it over Adrien, waiting a moment before shaking his head. 

"This is not good," he said grimly, "I can treat him, but I don't know how long I can stop him from dying." 

Marinette's heart sank like a stone. She couldn't survive to lose Adrien. She just couldn't. He was her partner, her best friend, the man she had loved since they had met. The thought of him dying made her feel as though she had been gutted. 

"There has to be a way," she muttered, pacing back and forth. She was Ladybug for crying out loud, and she had never let anything stop her before. Suddenly, an idea burst into her head like a bolt of lightning. She was Ladybug! Ladybug had the power of creation and good luck. What if she had the power to heal Adrien?! 

"Lucky Charm!" she cried, flinging her yo-yo high up into the air. Energy shot out from it and it spun around until it formed a small red and black polka dot vial full of liquid. Quickly making her way over to Adrien's side, she hooked it into his IV line, letting the pinkish liquid seep into his bloodstream. As she watched, his heartbeat became more regular, his color slowly returning over to his face. 

"Good work, Ladybug." Master Fu said approvingly as Marinette's earrings quickly began losing their dots. "I will be back in the morning. In the meantime, why don't you stay with him? He could use a friendly face when he wakes up." 

Marinette nodded as she tossed the vial up into the air, "Miraculous Ladybug!" 

The energy burst from the spot where her vial had been, fanning out over Paris as Marinette transformed back into herself. 

"Do you think that this will take care of the akumatized people?" she asked tiredly. Master Fu simply shrugged. 

"Only time will tell. But don't worry– just stay here with Adrien for tonight. Trouble is coming, but we'll meet it when it comes."

Marinette nodded, feeding Tikki a cookie from her purse. "Thank you, Master Fu." 

He nodded, stepping towards the door. In the threshold, he paused. "I always said that the two of you were made for each other."

Marinette stared at Adrien, her eyes beginning to well with tears again as Master Fu vanished. She had been so stupid, so incredibly blind. She took Adrien's hand, willing him to live. 

"Please," she said, kissing his cold fingers tenderly. "Please come back to me."


	20. Chapter 20

Everything seemed to come back slowly from the pounding in his head to the awful fire in his lungs. He felt so weak– almost too weak to even open his eyes. What was going on? Why did he feel so awful?

Little by little, he was able to move his fingertips, then his toes, and finally his eyelids started to flutter. Adrien thought back on what has happened to make him feel so horrible. Was he dead? Is this what death felt like? Because whenever he envisioned death, the first thing he imagined was his mother waiting for him on the other side, ready to embrace him. However, he didn't see his beautiful mother. All he felt was fire. 

Flashes of last nights events flew through his mind at an overwhelming speed until he had seen everything– the moths, the necklace, Ladybug's tears. 

Adrien gasped and his eyes flew open. "Ladybug! I need to speak to Ladybug!"

A pair of delicate hands held onto his. "Adrien! Calm down. Everything's okay. You're okay." 

He shook his head as his heart beat furiously against his ribcage. "No! I have to talk to her! I have to warn her!" 

"Shhh..." the voice said, and now the delicate hands wove through his hair just like his mom used to, instantly calming him down. Adrien forced himself to take several deep breaths, but then everything came crashing down on him at once. Before he could stop them, tears began escaping down the corners of his eyes and sobs started forcing their way out of his throat. Everything was on fire. Everything. 

"I've got you," the female voice said before comfortingly wrapping him in an embrace. "The nurse said that you'd probably cry when you came out of it."

Nothing made sense. Adrien didn't understand... 

"Marinette," Adrien whispered hoarsely as we weakly wiped his tears away and looked up. He had almost been expecting to see his mom, so he wasn't sure why he felt so surprised to see Marinette instead. But seeing her made him feel so sad. "I'm sorry. I wanted our date to be perfect but everything went wrong. I feel awful that nothing went as planned." he put a hand to his throat and winced. "It feels like everything's on fire." 

The sweet girl reached over to the table beside the hospital bed and helped him drink water from a straw, and the water immediately helped take away the pain in his throat. He couldn't believe it. The moths were so powerful! They were almost posionous– nothing like the harmless moths he had remembered years ago. 

"Oh, Adrien. You don't have to feel bad," Marinette said as she ran her fingers through his hair once again. "I had a lot of fun while it lasted. Besides, I'm much more worried about you. All the doctors expected you to die." 

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows together at the thought. "What happened?" 

Marinette shrugged, biting her lip. "Ladybug and Mas– another man came into your room and made everyone else leave. Next thing we knew, you were on the mend... you scared me so much, Adrien." 

It felt so comforting when Marinette laced her fingers through his, making his heart beat faster, despite how weak it was. 

"I've been told I have a knack for getting in trouble," Adrien joked but winced when even the smallest of laughs hurt his lungs. 

"I don't doubt it, Adrien. Not at all." 

He took a moment to glance around the room but what he saw surprised him. Cookies and presents and cards and balloons filled nearly every square inch of the room. Also, surprisingly cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. But other than that, it looked like a kid's birthday party. "What...?" 

"You've had a lot of visitors," Marinette explained as she squeezed his hand. "Everyone wants you to get better. Even Ladybug decided to pay you a visit." 

"Everyone?" he asked skeptically, "I didn't think that people cared about me all that much." 

Marinette placed a hand on the side of his face and turned his head so he looked her in the eye. "There are plenty of people who care about you, Adrien. Nino and Alya are especially itching to come to see you. They've been texting me at least ten times an hour. Maybe even about a dozen calls, too." 

Adrien smiled, but that smile instantly disappeared when he realized that the ring he always wore was no longer on his right ring finger. Neither was Plagg anywhere to be seen. He weakly lifted the hospital sheets off himself and attempted to slide off the bed. 

"I need to find Ladybug. It's important." 

"Whatever is so important, I'm sure it can wait," Marinette said, forcing him back down into the pillows. "Just look at you, Adrien. You nearly died! I'm not going to let you strain yourself. I can get a hold of Ladybug, and she can come and visit you, but you are not leaving this hospital bed so help me god." 

She didn't understand. She didn't understand any of it. Plagg was more important to him than almost anything or anyone in the world. Sure, he might be infuriating most of the time, but he was an irreplaceable friend. Just the thought of him lying somewhere, cold and afraid in the snow, maybe frantic. 

However, he couldn't entertain that thought for long before a worried couple came bursting into the room, and the first thing they did was give him at least a dozen hugs. 

"Dude! Don't scare us like that!" Nino exclaimed, softly punching his arm. "Next time you're thinking about dying, you're going to have to warn me first." 

Adrien chuckled and winced again, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling as Nino and Alya and Marinette laughed and joked with him and they even entertained by striking up an intense game of cards by his bedside. The longer he spent with his friends, the happier and better he felt. He wouldn't trade these people for the world. 

At long last, it was Marinette who stayed until visiting hours were over, and Adrien couldn't have been more grateful. As he had said earlier, she really was the kindest person he knew. 

"Well it seems that they're about to kick me out for the third time," Marinette grinned as she shouldered her purse. "I'd better get going. But if you need anything, anything at all, please call me. I want to feel somewhat useful." 

He rolled his eyes and reached out to Marinette to give her hand a brief kiss. "I don't think that you've left my side all day. I don't think that you could really get any more useful than that. You're truly the kindest person I know." 

The two of them gazed back into each other's eyes, and Adrien wasn't sure what he was doing until he found himself leaning toward her and her leaning toward him. But before they could kiss, the hospital door swung open, making both of them jump away from each other. Adrien's ears burned bright red as Tom and Sabine entered the room and gave him hugs. Did they just see what had almost happened?

"I'm so glad to see that you're doing okay, Adrien," Sabine said warmly while patting his hand gently. "I don't know if this is too soon... But if you're well enough, my brother is hosting a Christmas party this weekend. We would all love for you to come." 

Adrien lifted his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at the red-faced Marinette to her parents, then back over to Marinette. He wasn't family... nor was he really Marinette's boyfriend. Though, it seemed as though things were progressing that way... 

Continuing, Sabine said, "Of course, your father is invited too. Oh, and while we're at it, we must invite Alya and Nino!" 

Adrien did his best to hide his grin at the sudden hopeful tension in the room. Honestly, he didn't want to admit it, but he had never been to a Christmas party before. After his mother had died, his father had wanted nothing to do with Christmas. He actually really was looking forward to that...

"Well, I can tell you right now that my dad will have 'something come up'" Adrien said in air quotes, smiling. "But I'd love to come. That sounds great." 

Marinette smiled and squeezed his hand once more. "Get better, Adrien. I'll see you again tomorrow." 

He watched her leave with her parents and couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. Marinette was really sweet.

The night passed by progressively slow between the fire in his lungs and the aching in his body. The moth's poison had certainly done a number on him, not to mention all of the cuts and scrapes he had received in an attack. But one thing was becoming abundantly clear by the minute– Adrien hated Hawkmoth. When he and Ladybug had been up against Hawkmoth the first time, Ladybug had almost died. And this time... Well, he had just had a really close call. 

In the darkness of the hospital room, Adrien's cat-like ears picked up the faintest trace of a male voice down the hallway. The voice sounded extremely upset. "–told you to specifically avoid this at all costs. Now, look what has happened! I almost lost my son!" 

Dad!

Adrien started to sit up but he completely froze as he heard another voice– this one distinctly female. "I'm sorry, I swear I didn't mean for it to happen." 

His eyes began to scan the room for a possible weapon, but when he found none, he slinked back into his bed and held perfectly still as he pretended to be asleep. Sure enough, his father entered the room with no one other than Lucie, and thankfully, they thought he was asleep and continued speaking in whispers. 

"My poor son," Gabriel said sadly as he wheeled himself over beside Adrien. "He's the last thing I have left. If I ever lost him..." 

"You won't lose him," Lucie said softly, her fingers softly caressing Adrien's cheek. Adrien wasn't sure whether he wanted to bite her hand or her punch in her in her perfect teeth. He didn't know that it was possible, but he froze even more with her sudden presence. "The doctors said that he's recovering just fine." 

"Next time he won't be so lucky. But I won't allow a next time to happen." 

As a rare token of endearment, Gabriel placed his hand on top of Adrien's hair and sighed. "He looks absolutely exhausted. I'll have to come back tomorrow when he's rested more." 

The room fell silent for a few moments before Gabriel wheeled himself back out of the room, followed closely by Lucie. All Adrien wanted to do was shout at the top of his lungs to warn his father what Lucie could do, but he couldn't do so without engaging in a fight with her. And he wasn't strong enough for a fight. 

The window creaked open on the other side of the room and Adrien felt as though he was about to have a heart attack, especially since Lucie was just in the room. But when he saw Ladybug, he sighed in relief. That relief soon turned into pure joy when he saw what she had brought with her. 

"Plagg!" Adrien choked as he launched himself out of his bed, but he couldn't get two feet without falling to his knees due to his fatigue. Thankfully, Plagg closed the distance by flying into his embrace and holding on tight with his tiny black arms. 

"Adrien! You're okay!" 

Ladybug grinned from ear to ear as she swung her yo-yo in circles lazily with one hand and the other hand resting on her hip, smiling, "I thought you'd be happy to see him again. As exciting as our day together was... well, I'm glad I have Tikki. Plagg is... to put it delicately, one of the biggest troublemakers I've ever known. Even bigger than my four-year-old cousin." 

"You're telling me," Adrien laughed, swiping away at the moisture in his eyes. "I have to keep my fridge chained just to keep him out of there. And do I even have to mention the couch incidence?" 

Plagg rolled his eyes, "What? My claws were feeling a little dull. It was an ugly couch anyways." 

Adrien felt too weak to stand up again, so Ladybug sat down cross-legged across from him. It felt so weird to be in presence as Adrien and for her to know that he was Chat Noir. But it just couldn't be helped. In a way, it felt more relieving than anything. He no longer had to hide who he really was from his best friend. Or at least he hoped that their friendship was still intact. After those three words he had said to her, he wasn't sure that their friendship could ever be the same. 

"Does Tikki ever give you must trouble?" Adrien asked, really wanted to know more about her than he already did.

Ladybug smiled and shook her head, "Never. She's the sweetest kwami that's ever existed." 

Almost subconsciously, Adrien used the tip of his finger to repeatedly pet Plagg's soft black fur, and sure enough, the kwami started to fall asleep on his shoulder. He only had two moods– sleepy and mischievous. 

"Well, I suppose that's fitting for us," Adrien chuckled. "The sweet kwami for the sweet girl, and the difficult kwami for me. Plagg definitely keeps me on my toes, that's for sure." 

He lifted his eyes to find Ladybug staring at him curiously, her bright blue eyes even visible in the darkness. But there was something different about the way she looked at him now that she knew who he was. 

"I guess the cat's out of the bad," Adrien joked as he safely tucked Plagg into the pocket of his sweatshirt.

"It's been you all this time," 

Adrien nodded, "You know who I am, don't you?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." 

He made a mental note to go through all the women that he knew and compare them to see which one was the most like Ladybug– Chloe, Sabrina, Lucie, Nathalie, Alix, Mylene, Marinette, Alya, and another dozen or so from modeling or from the studio. Though, he could officially check Lucie and Marinette off that list. Lucie was Hawkmoth, and he had seen Marinette and Ladybug side by side before at the skating rally in high school. He could probably even check Alya off that list as well. After all, it was Alya who made all the videos for the Ladyblog. 

"And?" Adrien asked, feeling a little flustered. "Are you disappointed?" 

She shook her head, drawing her knees closer to her chest as if she was the one who should feel nervous. "I was definitely shocked, but it makes a whole lot of sense now. It's just so... weird to find out who your best friend really is after all these years." 

Adrien grinned mischievously and put on his best Dracula accent. "Tell me again why you don't trust me, Purrincess? Maybe it's because I'm the mighty Chat Noir and I'm going to suck your blood out if I find out your true identity!" Despite his weak limbs, he made a grab for Ladybug and started tickling her feet, and the two of them laughed and laughed while she kicked, but then Adrien's ears pricked up at the sound of something out in the hall, so he clamped his hand tight over Ladybug's mouth and put a finger over his lips, at least until the sound traveled further down the hall before disappearing completely. 

"I'm still thirsty for blood!" Adrien said and he pretended to go for her throat, but Ladybug pushed his face away with her hand. 

"Stop it, Kitty!" she giggled, "Otherwise I won't be able to give you your gift." 

He immediately perked up at the mention, "Gift?" 

First, Ladybug slid his silver Chat Noir ring onto his finger and he exhaled a breath of relief. He would never have forgiven himself if he lost it. 

"Now, I'm not giving you permission to go out chasing akumas for at least another few days, okay? I want you feeling a hundred percent better, or else I'm going to take that away again." 

A grin pulled up on the corners of his lips, and if he had been Chat Noir, his pointy incisors just might have shown. "M'lady, as much as I really appreciate this gift, I do believe that it was you who stole it from me in the first place." 

She shoved him in the shoulder and he laughed, at least until he winced. His lungs were still burning. "That's not I've brought, you stupid cat." To his surprise, she handed him a box and when he opened it, his grin widened as he found a box full of cookies. Peppermint chocolate chip cookies to be exact. 

"You remembered that these are my favorite," Adrien said, popping one into his mouth, and with his mouth full, he continued, "You really are an amazing Ladybug," 

"And you really are an amazing Chat Noir," she chuckled while helping him back into his bed. It felt relieving to lay back down after the pain he had gone through earlier.

"Wait," Adrien said as Ladybug turned to leave. "The akumas... they're much stronger. Poisonous, even. Don't go near them." 

Ladybug smiled sadly and shook her head. "Unfortunately, you almost died figuring that out. But I promise I'll be careful." 

"And Ladybug?" Adrien said slowly, a frown forming on his face. He almost didn't want to tell her because it made him feel so stupid. But she had to know. "I know who Hawkmoth is. She doesn't seem to care all that much about hiding her identity. As soon as I saw that necklace..." 

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Who?" 

He sighed and cringed, "Lucie Covie. Just... just please be careful." 

Ladybug nodded and disappeared out the window. She'd be safer, knowing all of this. She had to be.


	21. Chapter 21

Marinette continued to visit Adrien in the hospital and every day, he continued to grow stronger. She was so relieved to have him back, more than once she had to stop herself from telling him her own secret. 

"Why don't you just tell him?" Tikki asked, giving Marinette a puzzled look one night back in her room, "You already know that he loves both sides of you, so what's holding you back?" 

Biting her lip, Marinette shook her head. "Because, Tikki. If Adrien knows who I am, Lucie could use me as leverage against him. It's safer this way." 

"But she could use you as leverage anyway," Tikki pointed out. "Everyone knows that Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug." 

Marinette nodded, "I know, but if he knew that I am Ladybug, it would make it all even worse. I'll just have to wait to tell him after all of this is over." 

But, if she was honest with herself, part of her still wondered if Adrien would be upset that she was Ladybug. True, they were dating now, but Marinette wondered if he was just filling the gap because Ladybug had rejected him. She wanted him to love her, both sides of her. And she wasn't yet sure how he felt.

"Tikki, why didn't you tell me?" Marinette asked, glancing down at her kwami. "You knew, didn't you?" 

Tikki nodded, "I did know. But, I think that it was better for you two not to know. It would have changed your partnership completely and it might not have been as strong as it is now." 

Marinette shrugged, Tikki might be right. Still, she was glad that she finally knew the truth about Adrien– her kitty. 

The hospital was nearly silent when she came to visit him two days before Christmas. Adrien's father was inside when she arrived and Marinette hesitated in the doorway, her hand hovering less than an inch away from the door. Before she could turn away, Adrien spotted her. 

"Hey, Mari!" he smiled, "Glad you came in to see me." 

"Yeah," Marinette shuffled her feet, trying not to be intimidated by Gabriel's icy stare. She held out the tin she carried. "My parents sent over gingerbread cookies from the bakery." 

"Good! All I've been having for days in the same bland hospital food," Adrien licked his lips with a laugh. "Your dad makes the best cookies. I could get fat being around your parents' shop." 

Marinette smiled, sitting down on the hard wooden chair opposite Adrien and his father.

"How are you, Mister Agreste?" she piped up after an uncomfortable pause. Why did she have to sound so squeaky in front of Adrien like this? So embarrassing...

Gabriel's cool gray eyes met hers. "I'm as well as I can be expected after the fashion show fiasco and my son almost dying. I owe Ladybug a debt of gratitude for saving my son." 

Marinette nodded, schooling her expression into one of concern. "I'm very grateful he's alright too. Ladybug really saved the day that time." 

"She did indeed," Gabriel agreed, pushing his wheelchair backward. "I had better be going. I have lots of fallouts from the failed fashion show to attend to." 

Marinette and Adrien nodded as Gabriel wheeled himself close to the bed to give his son a hug. Adrien stiffened with surprise for a moment, but then quickly relaxed into the embrace. 

"Have a good time," Mr. Agreste said, wheeling himself out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Adrien turned to Marinette with a grin. 

Marinette's stomach flipped. How had she been able to miss that his smile and Chat Noir's were the same for so long? 

"The doctors say that if I continue to show signs of recovery, they'll let me out of the hospital in time for your Christmas party." 

"That's great!" Marinette said happily, taking Adrien's hand in hers on top of the covers. "Let's hope you get 'feline' better quickly." 

She wrinkled her nose at the awful pun, reminding herself that Adrien didn't know that he was Ladybug yet. 

"Oh god, I'm sorry, my jokes are getting to be as bad as Chat Noir's." 

Adrien laughed, giving her hand a teasing squeeze. "Oh, I don't know. I happen to think that he's pretty funny. Now, how about these cookies you were talking about? I'm starving for real food." 

Marinette giggled, opening the tin with one hand so that she could keep holding Adrien's with the other.

"Thanks for coming to visit," Adrien said seriously, biting into a cookie. "Dad can't come over very often and Alya and Nino are both visiting his cousins until tomorrow. It was getting pretty boring here." 

Marinette's heart hurt a little for Adrien. He didn't have to say it, she could tell that he was feeling lonely. She couldn't imagine feeling that alone, especially around the holidays. 

"So, what is the best way to eat a gingerbread man?" she asked, hoping to cheer him up, "I always start with the arms." 

Adrien shook his head in mock disapproval, "No, no, no, Marinette. You've got to go for the head first. That's where all the good stuff is." 

"But then if you do that, you won't be able to get all of the good stuff on your last bite," Marinette protested with a laugh. 

They debated the proper way to eat a gingerbread man until the bag was empty and then talked to each other for another hour about everything they could think of until Adrien began to yawn, his eyelids drooping. 

"I should let you get some sleep," Marinette said softly, "You need to rest if you're going to be able to make it to the party."

She stood up to leave, but Adrien's hand shot out to grab hers so fast that it startled her. 

"Please don't go," he said so quietly she could barely hear, "Stay and watch TV with me for a little while." 

Marinette agreed as Adrien turned on a rom-com. He patted the bed next to him and she curled up beside him, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. She felt his arms slide around her, still warm and strong in spite of everything he had been through. 

"Thanks, Mari," he mumbled sleepily, his hands pulling her closer, and causing Marinette to feel happy down to the tip of her toes. They sat together in the darkening room, watching the movie together– sometimes talking, but mostly enjoying a comfortable silence. When he finally fell asleep, she edged away gingerly, stroking his hair affectionately. 

"I love you, Kitty Cat," she whispered, kissing his cheek before leaving the room, "And maybe someday you'll love me too. And not just the Ladybug part of me."


	22. Chapter 22

Getting discharged from the hospital felt like one of the best Christmas presents that Adrien could ever receive. He had begun to feel bored out of his mind, except when he had visitors. All he really wanted to do was escape into the cold fresh air as Chat Noir and let all of his troubles just melt away. Plagg had even grown tired of the lack of cheese that the hospital offered. 

Plagg sighed and rolled his eyes, "Would you just pick something to wear already? I'm sure that Marinette doesn't care whether you wear a plaid shirt or a plain shirt. You've been standing in front of this mirror for an hour, I swear." 

Adrien frowned as he stared back at himself in the mirror. What Marinette thought about him didn't really matter... did it? But he really didn't know what to expect from her family. Was he supposed to dress up? Was he supposed to dress down? 

In the end, he called Nino. He answered after one ring. "Hey, dude, what's up?" 

"What are you wearing to the party?" Adrien asked, cutting straight to the chase. "If I wear a suit, would that be overdoing it? Should I just wear jeans? Would that be underdressing?" he sighed, "I've never been to one of these things before." 

Nino laughed on the other end, "You're way overthinking this, man. If I'm not mistaken, you're just trying to impress a certain pretty lady. Admit it. You like her." 

"Oh shut up," Adrien growled as he pulled out a plain white shirt and shrugged a jacket on over it. A plain shirt and jeans it was.

"Besides, Alya and I are just wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. You can never go wrong with that." 

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows as he dug frantically around his closet for anything that even remotely resembled an ugly Christmas sweater, but found nothing. Actually, he wasn't even sure what that was. Did everyone wear ugly Christmas sweaters to these parties? 

"Wait- what are you talking about? Am I supposed to wear one?" 

"Oh, totally, dude. Didn't you get the memo?" 

His face totally drained of color, and he had to pick up his phone to scroll through all his texts from Marinette. Nothing that she said had mentioned sweaters. Did she tell him at the hospital and he just hadn't been listening? 

"Kidding, Adrien!" Nino laughed, "And talk about fashionably late. What are Marinette's parents going to think when their future son-in-law shows up super late to their special party?" 

Adrien did nothing but growl and hang up the phone. If Nino had been in the room, he probably would have thrown a book at him. Or two. Possibly three. Most likely the entire library.

"Come on, Plagg," Adrien said as he wrapped the blue scarf that his father had given him in high school for his birthday around his neck. "Claws out!" 

His entire body melted into the black suit as he transformed into Chat Noir, and admittedly, the transformation felt like a wave of relief. It had been much too long since he had been Chat Noir. 

Without further delay, Adrien launched himself out the window, knowing that he'd get there faster as Chat than if he drove through the holiday traffic. Buildings and trees and lights flew past in a blur until he finally landed softly in front of Marinette's uncle's house as Adrien. Snow started to drift down from the sky, creating the perfect backdrop for a holiday that Adrien felt overly-excited to be spending with Marinette. And Alya and Nino- of course. 

"I'm warning you," Adrien said to Plagg. "No funny business. I'll give you a whole package of Camembert when be get home tonight if you promise to behave yourself." 

The kwami groaned, "Oh come on, you're never any fun, Adrien," he grumbled, but still crawled into Adrien's jacket. Hopefully, he'd stay there.

When Adrien took another step towards the door, the scarf around his neck caught on a nearby branch and came loose, falling down onto the pavement. He bent to pick it up but something small on the inside of the scarf caught his attention and his eyes widened as he ran his thumb over the unmistakable embroidered inscription of Marinette's name. She had even dotted her 'i' with a little heart. All this time, it had been Marinette who had given him this scarf as a gift, not his father. And she had let him believe it. 

The front door opened and startled him, nearly making him jump three feet high. "Marinette!" Adrien gasped, "You almost gave me a heart attack." 

"Sorry," she giggled, "It was just a little bit funny." 

Adrien stepped inside and couldn't help himself from letting his eyes glance over her outfit, then once more. She definitely didn't wear an ugly sweater. Instead, she wore a long-sleeved white crop top with a round scoop neck with a high-waisted red skirt that hit just above her knee, leaving a simple sliver of stomach available for the eye to see, and the green tights she was wearing showed more of her leg than he had ever seen before. Though his favorite part was the bright red flower she had tucked into her hair, which was pulled back into a messy bun. It somehow brought out the blue in her eyes. 

"My, my," Adrien said as he wrapped his scarf around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him– close enough that their chests were touching and her blush showed prominently on her porcelain skin. "Don't you look festive." 

"Well," she smiled down at her feet, "it is Christmas," she replied shyly. 

"And did you know that Christmas is the time when all secrets should be spilled? You've been keeping something from me, Mari. For a long time now. I want you to confess, otherwise, I'll tickle the confession right out of you." 

Surpringsly, Marinette's face drained of all color and her big blue eyes widened as she stared back at him. Was that a slight trace of shame in her large bluebell eyes? Or even embarrassment Or fear? Adrien wasn't quite sure why she'd feel any of those things. He didn't think that the secret was that big. 

"You- you know?" Marinette finally asked in a whisper, her eyes still wide. "How did you find out?" 

Adrien snorted with laughter and waved the end of his well-knitted scarf in her face. "How did I not find out, Marinette? You signed my scarf! All this time, I thought that my dad gave this to me, but it had been you. Why didn't you tell me?" 

Marinette let out what seemed to be a visible sigh of relief. "I made that scarf to make you happy. And it did. The rest of it didn't matter. I didn't want to take any of it away from you." 

He wrapped her in a tight embrace, burying his face in her silky raven hair, which always smelled exactly like vanilla and cinnamon. "You're too sweet, Marinette. But now I'm starting to wonder what other secrets you've been hiding from me." 

A slight shaking of laughter came from within Adrien's jacket and he had to cough over PLagg to muffle the sound. If he wasn't careful, Plagg would spill his secret.

"Come on," Marinette said with a smile as she took his hand and led him into the next room. "I want you to meet my family. Gear yourself– it's a big family." 

When they entered the next room, Adrien's jaw dropped to the floor. She really hadn't been kidding. The room was packed full of people talking and laughing and teasing. Kids ran to and fro, wreaking havoc in their wake. Adults were busy exchanging gifts. Even Alya and Nino seemed to be having fun. 

"Adrien?" Nino asked in disbelief. "I swear that I just got off the phone with you, and then you were still at home. How did you get here so fast?" 

Adrien shrugged, "How much have you had to drink, Nino? That was ages ago." Still, he ducked his head, hoping that no one else would broach the subject. Thankfully, a large man with flushed cheeks approached them, followed by several more people in Marinette's family, including her parents. 

"And you must be Mr. Agreste!" he said, laughing jovially, "I'm Uncle Ben– Mari's favorite uncle, I might add." 

They shook hands and Adrien had to stop himself from wincing at how tight the man's grip was. "It's very nice to meet you, sir," 

"Come! Try my favorite holiday eggnog. I want to see if you're tough enough to stomach it." 

"Tough enough?" Adrien squeaked as he cast Marinette a distressed glance. "Umm... Princess, should I be worried?" 

"Uncle Ben!" Marinette scolded. "Adrien just got out of the hospital. I don't want you trying to kill him." 

"Oh, he won't die. No, no, not from this." 

Marinette grimaced and leaned over to him to whisper. "It's really not for everybody, but my dad loves it. But, please, be careful not to drink too much of it. I'm warning you." She gave his fingers a comforting squeeze before Uncle Ben thrust a mug into his hands full of a steaming white liquid with a large dollop of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon on top. It looked innocent enough... 

At least until he tasted it. 

Immediately, Adrien coughed and gagged and coughed some more as the hot drink burned his throat, and not in a scolding way. This eggnog was most definitely spiked. 

Everyone around him burst into laughter as his reaction. His eyes quickly began to water and he found that he instantly regretted the decision to drink the eggnog. That was the last time Adrien would ever trust anything Uncle Ben handed him. 

"Well, it's– uh– interesting." Adrien finally managed to cough out before reaching for a piece of hot fudge to get rid of the taste. 

"You're a good sport," Uncle Ben chuckled as he clapped Adrien on the back. "I like you. Now I understand what Marinette has seen in you all these years. 

"Ben!" Marinette warned, but Adrien was no longer listening. Instead, he froze, completely rooted to the spot. Adrien had left his nearly full mug of eggnog on the counter, and until now, he hadn't realized that Plagg got into it. Plagg's face was now covered in whipped cream and he looked as if he was ready to bounce off the walls. 

"Oh, no..." Adrien muttered under his breath. 

Marinette rose her eyebrows at him and turned to look. "What–" 

"Nothing!" he cried, wrapping his arm around her waist so she was looking at him instead of Plagg who had started rummaging through the drawers. "I just was saying how beautiful you looked tonight!" 

He winced as Plagg pushed a fork off the counter and clattered heavily down to the floor. Marinette tried to turn again, but before she could completely turn around, Adrien reached for a paper bag and pulled it over her head. He needed to catch Plagg before someone saw him. 

"I'll be right back!" 

Adrien made a grab for Plagg but the kwami flitted just out of reach, laughing at Adrien's useless attempts. Oh, he was in so trouble when Adrien got his hands on him!

Plagg flew out of the room and Adrien chased him down the hallway, up the stairs, into the bathroom, and down the stairs again. 

"Plagg!" Adrien hissed as he made a wild swipe for the kwami but missed, "Get back here, Plagg!" 

However, Plagg just giggled, obviously having had way too much eggnog, and flitted all around the ceiling, carrying mistletoe. Where had he even found something like that? 

Oh, when Adrien caught him, he was going to kill Plagg. Why couldn't Plagg just behave for once in his life? 

"I swear to god that you will never so much as see another piece of cheese unless you come back here this instant!" 

Adrien jumped and made another move to snatch the kwami from the air, but Plagg dodged just out of reach as he giggled and hiccuped, and Adrien had to glance around bashfully to make sure no one was seeing this. Good. Everyone else appeared to be in the other room socializing. Perhaps he could catch the kwami underneath everyone's noses after all. 

He scowled as Plagg quickly rounded the corner and Adrien kicked off the wall while making another attempt to grab the mischievous imp, but to his surprise, Marinette appeared out of nowhere and he couldn't stop his momentum before he practically tackled her to the ground, landing right on top of her. One hand rested just above her head and his other hand rested on her thigh. His cheeks lit up as if they were about to be set on fire as he gazed back into Marinette's bluebell eyes. 

"Oh-uh-Marinette!" Adrien gasped with wide eyes, "I'm so sorry, I was just trying to catch a fly and then you were here and–" 

His ears turned a deeper shade of red when he realized that he was still on top of her, their faces barely an inch apart, and his hand was still very much on her thigh. Very quickly, he pushed himself to his feet and pulled her up, still feeling overly embarrassed at what had happened. He wanted to ease into this with Marinette– not pummel her into it. Literally. 

"I'm really, really sorry, Mari," 

"It's fine," she laughed, her smile instantly making his knees go weak. "Those are some pesky flies, aren't they?" 

Adrien sighed in relief and chuckled under his breath. "Oh, like you wouldn't believe." 

A small tinkling sound brought both of their attention up to the ceiling and Adrien couldn't help but run a hand through his already disheveled hair in exasperation. Although the culprit was nowhere to be seen, Adrien knew that it was Plagg who had tied the mistletoe to the ceiling directly above their heads. Why couldn't Plagg just sleep through the Christmas party? Why? 

Marinette shyly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and stared down at the ground, color quickly entering her cheeks, and suddenly, he found himself really wanting to kiss her. He even had a valid excuse to. Maybe if he acted as confident as Chat Noir, then maybe he could do this... 

"Not sure who put that there, but whoever did was pretty claw-ver, don't you think?" Adrien asked with a grin. 

Despite her obvious fluster, she burst out into laughter. "Did you really just make a cat pun?" 

He shuffled his feet bashfully. Without his mask on, he just didn't feel quite as confident as he wished he did. "Well, it seems to work for Chat Noir, doesn't it?" 

She laughed lightly and gazed up into his eyes. "I'm not sure that's entirely true. But I do like that you tried." 

To his surprise, Marinette stood on his tiptoes and kissed his cheek, instantly warming him up from his head down to his toes. Her lips felt so warm and he felt so dazed. 

"Um... we'd better get back to the party, otherwise people will notice that we're missing." 

She turned away from him and started to walk back towards the doorway, but he quickly grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her back to him, and, very gently, he pressed his lips up against hers. Immediately, Adrien lost all sense of time and place as they kissed, completely losing himself in the process. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, and he really liked the way her arms raced around his neck, making it so there was no distance between them in the slightest. Adrien suddenly wanted to take the kiss deeper, and he probably would have, but his ears picked up the slightest scuffle from around the corner followed by a "Holy mother of god." 

Marinette and Adrien breathlessly broke apart only to find that Alya had caught their kiss on her phone's camera. She mouthed 'sorry' before quickly scrambling away as fast as she possibly could, no doubt to spill everything she had just seen to Nino. Oh, no, Adrien would never hear the end of it. 

When he glanced over at Marinette, he found that her face appeared bright red as she blushed to the roots of her hair, and, despite himself, he felt a little flushed too.

"I don't usually kiss and tail," Adrien smiled, "but I think we just got caught." he laced their fingers together and pulled her back toward the living room, but not before tipping her a playful wink. "Let's head back. I think we've stirred up plenty enough gossip for tonight."


	23. Chapter 23

The day after Adrien's Earth-shattering kiss, Marinette just floated around on a cloud. She almost couldn't believe that it had really happened. She could still feel the warm pressure of his lips on hers, as distinctly as she had felt in when they had been staring that kiss. His lips had been even more intoxicating than her Uncle Ben's eggnog, making her feel lightheaded and giddy. It had been wonderful, and she hoped there would be more kisses to come. 

"You're in a good mood today," Tikki said slyly, perching herself gently on Marinette's shoulder. "What's gotten into you?" 

Marinette smiled, scratching her kwamis head, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Today's just a good day." 

"And that goofy smile on your face wouldn't have anything to do with you kissing Adrien underneath the mistletoe last night, now would it?" Tikki asked shrewdly, a smile quickly flickering across her face. 

"Maybe?" Marinette laughed happily. "Oh, Tikki! It was so romantic!" 

Smiling proudly, Tikki replied, "I knew that it would be! All you two needed was a little nudge." 

"Waaaait," Marinette raised her eyebrows at Tikki who had hopped into her hand. "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?" 

Tikki shrugged. "I may or may not have encouraged Adrien's kwami to take that mistletoe and hold it over your heads last night. He thought that it was hilarious." 

Giggling, Marinette set Tikki down on her pillow before sitting down at her desk. "I just can't believe it, Adrien and I are finally together. I think I might be ready to tell him that I'm Ladybug." 

But to her surprise, instead of smiling, Tikki frowned. "Marinette, I don't think that's a good idea." 

"What?" Marinette blinked. "Why? You were encouraging me to tell him just a couple days ago!" 

"Think about it, her kwami replied. "Everyone knows that Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug. Lucie might try to use you against him. If he knew the truth, you both would be in even more danger. It's better to keep your identity a secret right now." 

Marinette felt herself reeling as she attempted to process everything Tikki had said. She was right. Adrien was in more danger because she knew his secret. What if Hawkmoth tortured Chat Noir's secret out of her? 

"Oh, Tikki," she said, sadly slumping in her chair and drawing her knees close to her chest. "What am I going to do?" 

Tikki zoomed over and put a small red hand on Marinette's. "It's okay, don't worry Marinette. We'll think of something." 

Marinette groaned. How had this gotten so complicated? She loved Adrien, she always had. But if she was going to protect him, he was going to have to get hurt one more time. 

∞ ∞ ∞

That night, Marinette visited Adrien as Ladybug to talk to him about the dire situation they were in. She had formulated a plan, but she didn't like it any more than Adrien did when he heard it. 

Swinging herself towards the apartment building, she landed lightly on Adrien's balcony and tapped on the door. 

"Hey, m'lady," Adrien flashed her one of his signature Chat Noir grinned as he opened the door to let her in. Marinette smiled in return. Even though he looked exhausted, he was still her partner. 

"How are you today?" Marinette asked, her stomach pinching painfully as he sat down cross-legged on his silk bed. She stood awkwardly, leaning up against the window, trying to find the best words to say what she had come to say. 

"I'm fantastic now that I'm with you," he teased, his grass green eyes sparkling with humor. "You know, if you keep coming to see me, I might start thinking that you like me after all." 

Marinette rolled her eyes, her lips twitching all the same. 

"Aww... you're such a charmer," she said with a little sarcasm, but she was still feeling glad that he seemed back to his old self again. She had almost lost him. She couldn't let that happen again. "I'm really glad you're getting better. I was so worried." 

Adrien let out a low chuckle. "I'm okay. Besides, I couldn't just leave you to fight crime all by yourself, now could I, Bugaboo?" 

Laughing, Marinette swatted his arm exasperatedly. They laughed together for a moment before Marinette became serious. 

"Hey, Chat? I think there's something that I need to tell you." 

Adrien nodded, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. "Okay, m'lady. You can tell me anything." 

Marinette sighed, casting him a scolding glance. Adrien was looking a little sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Sorry. Keep going." 

"I think that you need to get back together with Lucie," Marinette said carefully, watching a full spectrum of emotions from shock to worry cross Adrien's face. She knew that he wasn't going to like this plan because she didn't like it either. 

"Why?" 

Taking a deep breath, Marinette plunged in. "Because we need to keep a close watch on her, to figure out how to stop her. I can't get close enough to her to learn her weaknesses. But you can." 

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "I really can't. I kinda just started seeing some–"

"I know. Marinette told me all about it." she smiled, "But please, Adrien. This is for the greater good. We may not even be able to defeat Lucie without your help and a lot of good, innocent people, like Marinette, could get hurt. Please. Marinette will understand." 

Adrien looked a little disappointed but nodded all the same. "Okay. I'll do it." 

"Thank you," Marinette breathed a sigh of relief.

Adrien grimaced, picking at the sleeve of his shirt. "To be honest, I thought that you were going to tell me who you are underneath the mask. I was kinda hoping that things had changed between us." 

Biting her lip, Marinette looked away. She didn't want to give Lady Hawkmoth any more leverage than she had already had over them. She knew that her next words would hurt him more than anything ever had, but she didn't have a choice. 

"I-I'm sorry, Adrien. But I, um, I like someone else, okay? I really don't mean to hurt you or anything, but that's just how it is." 

Marinette could see the heartbreak in Adrien's eyes and wished that she could take it away and reveal her identity to him. But she just couldn't– not yet.

"Oh, um... okay," he said with a forced grin. "Sorry." 

"You really are my best friend, Chat. I'm really, really sorry," Marinette had to fight to keep her voice even as tears sprang to her eyes. "Just please don't hate me." 

"I could never hate you, Ladybug. Never," Adrien promised, touching her hand lightly. "It's okay." 

Marinette felt as though walls of steel and brick were closing in on her and she knew she had to go or Adrien was going to see how she really felt about him. 

"I'm sorry." she whispered, "I need to leave. I'll see you later." 

Adrien nodded as she opened the balcony door and swung herself into the night. Her tears began to quickly fall in earnest as she climbed to the roof opposite the apartment building, freezing on her cheeks. She hated herself for breaking Adrien's heart again and again. But for both their safety, she had to guard her secret just a little bit longer.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to the glowing window, sliding down to sit with her knees pulled close to her chest. "I'm so sorry, Adrien." 

She wasn't sure how long she sat there until she saw a shiny black limousine pull up in front of the apartment building. She watched closely as Lucie got out. Marinette frowned, following her progress as she entered the building. If she could follow her once Lucie left Adrien's, she might be able to discover what she was up to. 

A light dusting of snow began to fall and Marinette leaned up against the chimney with her arms around her body to stay warm. Lucie spent a long time with Adrien, so long that Marinette was growing increasingly jealous. The sooner Lucie was out of the picture, the better. 

At last, Lucie appeared again and got in her car, her spidery long legs on display below the very short dress she wore underneath her coat. Marinette pushed aside her jealousy, focusing on tailing the car. It wasn't very hard to keep up, the driver made his way through the streets slowly because of the snow. Marinette nearly lost the car when it went right through the Pont del Alma tunnel, but spotted it again when it turned right at the light. Her stomach flipped when she realized where Lucie was headed- the Agreste Mansion. 

Landing lightly on the brick wall surrounding the grounds, Marinette crouched in the darkness as Lucie got out of the car. Her heels clicked on the cobblestones as she went inside without knocking. Marinette frowned– how was she supposed to follow her now? 

Noticing a partially open window with the light on in an upstairs room, she climbed silently towards it. Two voices could be heard talking in hushed urgent tones. 

"You're a fool, Lucie," Gabriel Agreste spat. "You shouldn't have drawn so much attention to yourself. There are other ways to seize Chat Noir and Ladybug miraculouses." 

Lucie's voice held a sharp bite of impatience as she spoke. "No, you're the fool. You nearly had their Miraculouses more times than I can count, but they always slipped through your fingers. Now it's time to try it my way." 

Marinette covered her mouth to stifle a gasp as more pieces of the puzzle fell into the place. Gabriel was the original Hawkmoth. Did Adrien know? If he did, was he protecting his father by not telling her? 

The argument moved into another room and Marinette waited a few more minutes until she felt safe to leave. Her head spun wildly as she digested what she just heard. If Adrien did know the truth, what else could he be hiding from her? Could she trust her own partner?


	24. Chapter 24

He should have known. He should have expected it. As soon as his life took a turn for the better, the world had to come crashing down on him hard. Adrien shouldn't have been so naïve to think that the universe had suddenly found favor in him. Life had always been difficult for Adrien, and it didn't seem as though the world would ever change. 

Adrien's shoulders slumped as he glumly swirled his milkshake around until the ice cream and syrup was all mixed. It was more of a pity treat than anything. After all, this was his third one today already. 

"Dude, we have to talk about this!" Nino said as he slid into the booth across from him and slammed his phone down on the table, face up. "So you and Marinette, huh?" His friend wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I never thought that I'd see that day." 

A heavy sigh escaped him as Adrien pushed the phone away dejectedly, not wanting to see the kiss that Alya had unsurprisingly managed to capture. All it did was make his heart ache even more than it already did. 

"I kissed Marinette," Adrien said quietly, surprising even himself. "She's my friend, Nino, and I shouldn't have done it." 

Nino punched Adrien in the arm, "No! Don't think like that. It's awesome! Forever the quad. Now we can all go on double dates together all the time! Besides, it looked as though you were pretty into if you asked me. Told you that asking Marinette out was a good idea. I've heard that she's been crushing on you for a while." 

Immediately, Adrien hung his head with shame. His heart was aching in all the wrong places. First Ladybug had to go and break his heart, and he felt cruel to have to go and do the same thing to Marinette. But she just didn't understand. Adrien would do anything Ladybug asked him to do, even if he meant doing the only thing that he didn't really want to do. Marinette made him happy and he loved spending time with her. He'd probably never get the chance to try again with her after today. 

"Speaking of Marinette..." Nino said slyly as he waved to Alya and Marinette who had just walked into the ice cream parlor, and when Adrien made eye contact with Marinette, all the color drained from his face. He couldn't do this to her. He couldn't.

"You invited Marinette?" Adrien hissed. "I thought that this was supposed to be just us?!" 

His friend laughed and shook his head. "After the other night, I thought you'd be eager to meet up with your special little lady again." 

Marinette and Alya took their seats in the booth, and Adrien couldn't even bring himself to so much as glance at Marinette as she sat next to him. He felt like a horrible monster– no better than the old Hawkmoth himself. Maybe if he just dated Lucie in secret, then Marinette would never have to know and he'd never have to break her heart. 

However, the dishonesty of that option pained him. Unfortunately, he had to face reality– life was unfair to him than anyone else. 

"Hey, Mari," Adrien finally said as he lifted his head to give her a smile, but a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Especially because his thoughts drifted to the bluebell necklace that matched Marinette's eyes perfectly in a silver box, wrapped up with red and green wrapping paper. He had wanted to give it to her for Christmas and move on from Ladybug to ask Marinette if she wanted to be his actual girlfriend, but he'd never get the chance now. Ladybug broke his heart in more ways than just once. 

"Are you alright?" Marinette asked sweetly with a soft hand on his shoulder. "You look down." 

"I'm fine." 

"Yeah right," Nino broke in, "You've had, like, five milkshakes. That means that something is up." 

"THREE!" He announced loudly, "It was only three." he said more quietly, his ears pricking with heat. 

"Oh," Alya said with understanding, "It's the holidays. Sorry, Adrien, I forgot." 

The holidays... meaning that it was the anniversary of the season when his mom died. But unlike his father, Adrien decided to cherish the good memories of his mom and didn't dwell on all the things that were lost. Adrien decided not to grieve every year as his dad did.

Alya stood up from the table and practically pulled Nino out after her. "Come on, Nino. Help me buy another round of milkshakes. I think Adrien could use a fourth." 

As they left, Adrien couldn't help staring at the table as if it had been the one of have personally caused him heartache. Marinette would never forgive him for this. He felt like such an awful, lousy person. 

"I'm really sorry, Mari," Adrien said quietly as he finally gathered up the courage to look over at her. Her eyes looked so sad as if she already knew exactly what he was going to say. "I took things too far the other night. I don't think that it can happen again." 

Marinette nodded and didn't say anything for what felt like the longest time. She looked as though she were trying to hold in her tears– which was exactly how he felt right now too. But to his surprise, Marinette smiled and gave his hand a brief squeeze. 

"It's okay. We're friends, Adrien. And that will never change. I'm not going to let one kiss ruin that." 

Adrien stared sadly at the table again as he remembered the kiss vividly. The kiss had been so wonderful. It had made him feel so happy as if he had been walking on air. He truly believed that what they had could have turned into something, but his love for Ladybug came first and foremost. Ladybug had asked something hard of him, but he wasn't able to tell her no. He could never tell her no. 

Nino and Alya came back at that moment with four milkshakes, one for each of them, and passed them around the table. 

"Eat up, Adrien!" Alya said cheerfully as she raised her glass. "To drowning our sorrows with Adrien's favorite milkshake!" 

Before Adrien could reply, a loud crash sounded just outside, shaking the earth with loud, trembling quakes. Adrien should have been surprised. He should have jumped into action. But all he did was sit and stare glumly out the window as two giant beings made of rock accompanied a woman dressed in purple wearing a silver mask. 

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty!" Hawkmoth shouted to the sky. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" 

Chaos ensued as people ran to and fro around the ice cream joint, attempting to flee the scene before they got caught up in the fight. Even his friends jumped into action– Alya with her camera, Nino brandishing a broom he found in the corner of the room, and Marinette ran off– but Adrien could only stay there sitting and staring at the woman who he used to date and is now dating again. What was the point in fighting? What was the point in trying? He felt as though he had nothing to keep him going, nothing to will his heart into action. His life was falling apart around him and he had no will left to fight. 

So he just stared blankly at the rock monster that smashed its way through the glass windows and overturned all the tables, wondering what it might feel like if he just sat there and let the bad guy win for once in his life. 

The rock monster threw a table across the room, splintering the wood against the wall, but then it turned on Adrien. First. it started toward him slowly, and then it gained speed as it charged straight toward him. 

"Adrien!" Ladybug shrieked as she came out of nowhere, and before Adrien could even blink, he was tackled to the ground in a blur of red and black just before the monster smashed its large fists into the table he had just been sitting at, obliterating the entire booth in one foul sweep. Even though Ladybug was currently sitting on his stomach, effectively pinning him beneath her, he couldn't bring himself to even smile at her presence. Perhaps a day ago, he might have made a kittenish comment about their position, but now it just didn't feel right. 

"What are you doing?" Ladybug cried, lightly slapping his face as if to wake him from a trance. "Fight!" 

"As you wish, M'lady." 

When no eyes were on him, Adrien transformed into Chat Noir, his body just going through the movements. Sure, he might be fast, agile, and strong, but if his heart wasn't in it, the passion wasn't there. 

The fight resumed outside as Ladybug and Adrien coaxed the rock monsters out of the establishment and into the frigid winter air. Even when the two of them dealt blow after blow, the rocks wouldn't budge. They were too strong and too sturdy for the likes of Chat Noir and Ladybug. Besides that, something wasn't right. Hawkmoth just stood there, looking as smug as can be. Why did she just stand there?

Anger coursed through Adrien's body as his fist became enflamed with black tendrils of shadow. He wanted to put an end to this once and for all. 

In two slashes, he brought the rock monsters to a pile of rubble before he pounced on top of Hawkmoth, raising his claws above his head and getting ready to strike. But something inside him hesitated as he stared back into Lucie's eyes. Her eyes showed a brief flicker of fear. Underneath that mask, she was still human and underneath his own mask, he wasn't a killer. He couldn't do this. 

His cataclysm flickered out and Lucie chuckled beneath him, the beginnings of a smile working its way onto her lips. 

"I knew that you couldn't do it, Chat Noir," Hawkmoth laughed, "You're just as weak as the rest of them, but certainly handsome. I didn't realize how good you were looking until you got very close." 

"Please, stop this," he replied roughly, "Stop hurting and tormenting. What do you want, Hawkmoth? What are you trying to accomplish?" 

Hawkmoth laughed, the cries of laughter ringing out through the skies. And then, to his surprise, she reached up and grabbed the bell at his neck, pulling him down so that they were only inches apart. "This is the easy part, Kitty cat. If you're truly asking that, you don't know as much about our power as I hoped you might. Both the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculouses gives the wielder the power to bring back the dead. Did you know that? Just imagine what I could do with all that power." 

Adrien growled as he bounded to his feet, holding his rod dangerously close to her neck, ready to strike. "You're not getting them. You'll never get them from us." 

Lucie slowly got to her feet and twirled her blonde hair between her fingers, giving Adrien a coy look. "Well, I already have two of them. Consider this three." 

"Chat!" Ladybug cried behind him, and Adrien spun around to see that while he had been distracted, Hawkmoth had used her moths to sneak up behind Ladybug and the foul creatures engulfed her. At any moment, they could use the secret the same poison that had nearly killed him. 

"Don't hurt her," Adrien said, swallowing hard as he realized that his inability to kill had put Ladybug's life in danger. "I beg you, please." 

As if knowing that Adrien wouldn't lash out at her, Hawkmoth confidently strode forward and stood in front of her moths, which had now engulfed Ladybug completely. Adrien just stood by and watched helplessly. 

"Two days," Hawkmoth said. "You have two days to meet me at the Notre Dame. Midnight. Come alone. I'll trade your Miraculous for Ladybug. And if you don't come... well, I'll kill her. Plain and simple." 

Hawkmoth began to dissolve with her moths and Adrien took this last chance to leap forward, but his hands grasped around nothing. Just like that, Hawkmoth and Ladybug had disappeared. 

Adrien fell to his knees in defeat. This was his fault. This was all his fault. If he hadn't hesitated, Ladybug might never have gotten captured. He had no choice. He had to give up his Miraculous. He'd do anything for Ladybug, and he would never let her die. Adrien loved her too much. 

His heart ached at the thought. Despite the unrequited feelings, Adrien loved his Ladybug far too much to let her suffer. If it was his Miraculous against Ladybug's life, Hawkmoth would have to get his Miraculous. 

Ladybug's words from the night before rang in his mind, giving him an alternative option. I think you need to get back together with Lucie. 

Whether or not he realized it before, he now knew that if he wanted to keep the balance and save Ladybug at the same, he needed to the exploit the connection between himself and Lucie. As always, his lady had been right. Now was the time to act, and this time, he wouldn't fail her. He wouldn't fail the person he loved.


	25. Chapter 25

Marinette shuddered and moaned. She was trapped in a room with a large circular window, surrounded by akumas that were slowly draining away her life force and her powers. Adrien had seemed like he was just going to sit back and watch her die when she had been fighting those rock monsters. What was going on? She had always trusted Adrien with her life, but what if he was working with Hawkmoth? There would be no one helping her this time. She and Tikki were on their own. 

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," Lucie sneered, entering the room. A black and purple butterfly landed on her finger, and she stroked it's wing gently. "It's so nice that I don't have to tie you up. My akumas are taking care of that for me. I figure that you about a day at most before your powers are gone completely. Two days before you're dead and your Miraculous is mine." 

"Why not just take my Miraculous?" Marinette asked, each word she said sending painful tongues of fire down her throat. "You have me exactly where you want me." 

Lucie rolled her eyes, a smug smile flitting across her lips. "You're my catnip– the bait to catch your precious Chat Noir. He would do just about anything to save you, including giving up his own Miraculous. Besides, if you die, that will be one less problem for me to deal with." 

Marinette felt her stomach clench at those words. What was she going to do now? 

Choking on the breath that had congealed in her lungs, she managed to wheeze out, "I can understand what Gabriel Agreste's motivation could be to take our Miraculouses. He wanted to bring back his wife. But what about you, Lucie? What could you possibly hope to gain?" 

Lucie blinked, obviously surprised by the fact that Marinette knew who her mentor was. But she recovered quickly, sending a butterfly drunkenly flittering away with an annoyed flick of her wrist. 

"That's none of your business, Ladybug," she snapped, commanding the butterflies to swarm Marinette with a dramatic sweep of her arm. Marinette let out a screech of pain as the butterflies pulled more and more energy out of her body until Lucie let her drop to the ground. 

"I just sucked more of your life away," Lucie hissed, "Any more comments from you and I'll kill you. Do we understand each other?" 

Marinette nodded, barely able to hold her head up. 

"What about Adrien Agreste?" she gasped before she could stop herself, "What's his role in all of this?" 

Lucie tilted her head back, letting out a silvery laugh that sent chills up and down Marinette's spine. 

"Oh, Adrien's nothing but a beautiful little fool. He doesn't know that his father was Hawkmoth or that your precious partner almost killed him. I had to get close to that idiot to have any reason to be at the Agreste Manor. 

Marinette ground her teeth together. She hated hearing Lucie talk about Adrien like this. He didn't deserve any of the blows that life had dealt him and he certainly deserved more than being used by Lucie. 

"Well, let's hope that your precious partner shows up quickly," Lucie sneered taking a step backward into the shadows near the door, "You're running out of time and I know that Chat Noir would do anything to save his precious Bugaboo." 

The last words dripped sarcastically from her mouth as she transformed out of her Hawkmoth disguise into her normal clothes once again. 

"Ta-ta, Ladybug," Lucie smirked, closing the door behind her with a snap and effectively locking Marinette in. Not that Marinette could have escaped if she tried, she was growing so weak...

Staring around the bleak and empty room, Marinette dragged herself over to the window and peered out. It was a long way down to the ground, but heights had never bothered her before. If she could just push open a panel...

She screamed again as the butterflies swarmed her, pulling more life out of her body. Her back arched in agony as the butterflies ate away more of her life. She let out another scream, wishing she could just die so it could be over. 

When they finally released her, Marinette could barely manage to say "Spots off," through her tears. She hoped that by transforming back, she could save some of her powers and Tikki's as well. 

"Are you okay, Tikki?" Marinette asked hoarsely. Tikki shuddered and nodded as Marinette held out a cookie she always kept in her purse. 

"I'm alright, Marinette. What about you?"

Marinette let out a bitter little laugh as Tikki took a bite out of the cookie. "Well, let's see– I'm a prisoner, I'm dying, and Adrien broke up with me. Things are just freakin' peachy." 

"Marinette, he only did that because he trusts your judgment," Tikki replied, curling up in a ball in the palm of Marinette's hand. "You are Ladybug, Marinette, with or without the coustume. You're a hero!" 

Marinette didn't feel all that much like a hero at the moment– she was too weak to stand after the last akuma attack and her stomach rolled as though she might lose what little food she had left in her stomach. 

"Don't worry, Tikki," she moaned, sliding to the floor. Maybe if she rested for a minute, she'd be able to think of a plan. "I'll get us out of here. I promise." 

Tikki gave Marinette a warm and comforting smile. "I know you will. That's why you're my favorite Ladybug that I've ever watched over. You will never give up." 

Marinette smiled as Tikki crawled underneath her jacket to keep warm. Her eyes soon began to slide closed, feeling heavier and heavier by the minute. Somewhere in the back of her mind, thoughts began to swirl, but before she could even begin to come up with a plan, sleep overpowered her and she dropped into a fitful darkness.


	26. Chapter 26

Nothing was going right. His lady had been captured by Hawkmoth, he had been forced to break things off with Marinette, and after the first fight with Hawkmoth, Marinette was nowhere to be found. At first, Adrien thought that she might have gotten hurt in the fight, but he searched for hours and couldn't find any trace of her except for the red scarf she had been wearing right before the attack happened. Not even Alya had managed to capture her disappearance on her phone. 

Adrien's grip on Marinette's scarf tightened as he picked up his phone and called Marinette's parents for what felt like was the tenth time that day. 

"Hello?" Sabine asked, a worried note in her voice. 

"Hey. It's Adrien, um, again. I take it that Marinette hasn't come home yet?" 

Sabine didn't answer right away. Instead, she let out a loud sniff before finally saying, "No, she hasn't. This really just isn't like her. She wouldn't stay away. Marinette would at least call to let us know that she's okay." 

A stab of guilt shot into Adrien's heart as he wondered if this was his fault. Did he hurt her by saying what he said? Could that be what had driven her away?

"Thanks, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. I'll call you if she turns up." 

Adrien hung up the phone and hung his head. Two people he cared about were missing and he didn't know what to do. Ladybug would know. She always knew what to do. But this time, he was all alone and would have to do this without Ladybug's help. After all, he only had one more day to free her, otherwise, she'd die and he couldn't let that happen. 

His eyebrows furrowed with determination as he grabbed his jacket and headed out of his apartment. If he wasn't mistaken, Lucie should be done with her photo shoot by now. 

On his way to the Le Grand Paris, owned by André Bourgeois, Chloe's father, where Lucie was staying, he purchased a bouquet of roses and did his best to still his wildly beating heart. Sure, Lucie might be the new Hawkmoth, but she didn't know that he knew. He had to use this to his advantage. 

"Adrikins!" Chloe squealed as Adrien entered the hotel, throwing her arms around his neck and nearly choking him with her strong grip. "I had no idea that you were coming!" she eyed the flowers in his hand, "Are those for me?! You shouldn't have!" 

She reached out for the flowers, but Adrien held them just out of reach. "Sorry, Chloe, but these are for Lucie."

Chloe's mouth turned down into a pout. "Of course I knew that! Who else would you be coming to see?" 

The elevator dinged and all color drained from Adrien's face as Lucie stepped out, looking just as surprised to see him as he was to see her. She lifted up her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head, a smile pulling up on her lips. 

"Adrien! I was just about to go see you," Lucie said with a smile as she gave him a kiss. It took all of Adrien's self-control not to gag. "What are you doing here?" 

Taking a deep breath, Adrien forced his fear down and gave her what he hoped looked like an easy smile. "I came to see my beautiful girlfriend, of course." he handed her the flowers and her eyes lit up immediately as she accepted them. 

"Why don't you come up to my room? I need to put these in the water." 

In no world did Adrien ever want to be alone with this devil-spawn moth-witch, but for Ladybug's sake, he had to. 

They climbed into the elevator, and when Lucie led him to her hotel room, he had to take another deep breath. He had no idea what he'd have to do in order to catch Lucie off guard, but Ladybug meant the world to him– he'd do whatever it took.

Giving him a warm smile while placing the flowers in a vase, Lucie asked, "So does this mean that you're finally over trying to get together with Miss Dupain-Cheng? I know that she's the reason you broke up with me in the first place." 

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, but I made a mistake, Lucie. I know I did." 

Her fingers stroked the silky petals of the flowers, her eyes raking over him as if she owned him. The motion made him uncomfortable. "Oh, it's no harm done. I never really considered us broken up anyways. That designer nobody had no chance against me, after all. I knew you'd come crawling back after you discovered that for yourself, so it was only a matter of time." 

It was all Adrien could do to hold his tongue. Marinette was a hundred times better than Lucie would ever be, and he'd much rather be with her than Lucie, but for this plan to work he needed to keep the peace. He needed to keep her happy. 

"I guess you're right," Adrien lied, approaching her slowly and sliding his hands around her waist. "After all, it's not every day you get to date a hot model like yourself." 

"Oh, stop it!" Lucie giggled, visibly putting her guard down while she coyly looked up at him beneath her lashes, her unnaturally purple eyes glowing, "I can't lie. I really missed this." 

Adrien forced a smile to his face while his mind ran around in frantic circles, trying to find the best way to lower her guard completely. Although it had lowered considerably since he had gotten here, he still had a long way to go. And despite being back together with Lucie, he didn't want to be around her any longer than he had to. 

He took her hand and gave her a smile. "There's a large benefit dinner tonight. Are you interested in going with me and my dad? I don't usually like to go to them but with you there, I think I might actually enjoy it." 

"I would love to, Adrien," she replied with a soft, silky voice, raising her head up to kiss him. However, he caught sight of the necklace dangling around her neck and his eyes widened as she kissed him. If only he could snap the necklace off her neck... 

Very slowly, Adrien reached for the necklace, but before he could even touch the tarnished silver chain that fastened it to Lucie, her phone started ringing, snapping them both back to reality. Darn it! He had been so close. If he had just had a couple more seconds, he could have evened the playing field, even if it had ended up exposing the fact that he was Chat Noir. 

Lucie picked up her phone and gave him an apologetic look as she glanced down at the caller ID. 

"This will only take a few minutes. I'll be right back." 

The moment Lucie left to take the call, Adrien leaped into action and began rummaging hastily through each of Lucie's drawers. If he couldn't get the necklace, he could try and find the next best thing– her Miraculous brooch. However, he found nothing of interest, not even when he rummaged through her jewelry box. If he were a Miraculous, where would he hide? 

He spotted Lucie's purse slung carelessly over the back of the chair and grinned from ear to ear. She'd never leave her Miraculous alone, would she? The purse was his best bet. 

Adrien threw open the purse and recoiled with shock. For some reason, he had expected to find a Miraculous, not a kwami with a tear-stricken face, fear shining brightly in its purple eyes. The purple kwami stared straight back at him with wide, terrified eyes. The poor thing... 

"Don't hurt me, please!" the kwami begged as he flinched away from Adrien's outstretched hand, cowering as far into Lucie's purse as possible. "Please don't hurt me, Chat." 

"That's the silliest thing I've ever heard," Adrien frowned, picking the kwami up in his hands and trapping it inside his fingers as it tried to escape. However, Adrien completely froze as he heard Lucie's voice once again out in the hallway. He didn't have enough time to find the Miraculous, but he couldn't let this poor creature suffer any longer. So without any further thought, Adrien tucked the shaking kwami in his jacket alongside Plagg and before Lucie came back in, he rushed outside into the hallway just as she finished her phone call. She jumped at his sudden presence. 

"Don't scare me like that!" she gasped, holding a hand to her heart. 

Adrien grimaced and shrugged, "Sorry, I thought that you saw me. So I just had a great idea. Why don't we head over to my dad's place before the benefit? I haven't seen him since the last time the three of us got together. What do you say?" 

Lucie smiled and nodded. "That sounds wonderful. Why don't I just grab my purse–" 

He immediately stepped in her way. "You won't need your purse. We won't be gone all that long, I promise. After all, you'll have to come back here to change for the benefit anyway." 

She pursed her lips together but finally nodded and took his hand, "Let's go, then." 

With a foreign kwami hiding in his jacket, Adrien found it to be excruciatingly painful to be patient enough to wait it out until the moment he could return to his apartment and be alone to figure it out. But he had to protect his identity, and if Lucie found out that he had her kwami, nothing would be able to stop her from destroying everything he loved in his life. 

Thankfully, Lucie seemed to be impatient as well, which meant that their visit with his dad had been very brief. Adrien tried to ignore the blatant approval shining in his father's eyes when he found out that Adrien and Lucie were dating again. Adrien only felt like a disappointment in his father's eyes. He would never be good enough... 

Not seconds after he dropped Lucie back off at the hotel, Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and scaled the building until he came to Lucie's window, easily unlocking the window from the outside with his sharp claw and stepping inside– he wanted to get caught. 

"You!" Lucie gasped as she entered her room and started back at Adrien with a disgruntled expression. "Why are you here?!" 

Adrien grinned wide enough for his pointy incisors to show. "I just wanted to make the playing field fair. I can't let you have the upper hand, now can I? You have something I want, Hawkmoth. And now we're playing by my rules. Same time, same place. You know what I want." 

Before Lucie could respond, Adrien climbed back out the window and disappeared into the night, and he didn't let his guard down until he made it safely back to his apartment. Only then did he let out a breath of relief and pull both kwamis out of his jacket. The poor purple kwami still appeared to be terrified and darted into the corner of the room as soon as he was free from Adrien's jacket. 

"I beg you, Chat," the kwami cried out. "I never meant to almost kill you. I didn't have any choice!" 

"Hey..." Adrien said soothingly as he slowly approached the cowering kwami. "You did nothing other than what your master was forcing you to do. You're safe here, I promise." 

Plagg uncharacteristically flew over to the other kwami and held his hand, gently pulling him back over to Adrien's polished marble desk. "Nooroo, Adrien won't hurt you. He wants to help you." 

Nooroo... that must be the kwami's name.

"Please," Adrien whispered painfully. "All I want to do is to help my friend. Can you tell me where Ladybug is?" 

The kwami shook his head vigorously, cowering with fear. "I can't. She'll be so angry! I can't do it!" 

"Nooroo," Adrien said gently, wishing that he could take all of the kwami's heartache and fear away. "I won't let Lucie control you ever again. You never have to see her again. I promise I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe." 

The kwami relaxed in the slightest, but he still looked afraid. "But she still has the moth Miraculous. As long as she has that, I have no choice but to return to her. I am duty-bound." 

"Does she know that?" Adrien asked, but the kwami shook his head.

"I don't think so. The Hawkmoth before her hasn't taught her that yet." 

Adrien grit his teeth at the thought. "You mean the original Hawkmoth is still alive? Why is Lucie the new Hawmoth if that's the case?" 

Nooroo began the tremble again as he placed his hands over his hands as if that could make him invisible. "There are things I simply can't tell you, Chat Noir. It's against the rules. As much as I don't want to go back, I have to. I don't have a choice." 

"Then I'll steal the Miraculous," Adrien replied defiantly. 

"Ladybug doesn't have long," Nooroo replied sadly. "And the Miraculous is well protected. You have to trade me for Ladybug, Chat Noir. That way you still get to keep your Miraculous."

He shook his head, "I can't. If it were Plagg in this situation... I'd never be able to forgive myself. Same goes for you. I can't do it." 

"But you have to!" Nooroo said as he placed a tiny hand on Adrien's cheek. "Because if you don't, Ladybug will die." 

Adrien hung his head in defeat. No matter what, he'd lose something. And unfortunately, the least amount of loos would be to do this Nooroo's way. They'd have to find some other way to defeat Hawkmoth, but right now, Adrien couldn't let Ladybug die. Not on his watch.

Finally, he nodded, "Let's go save Ladybug." 

∞ ∞ ∞

Midnight. 

Nothing good ever happened at midnight, especially when Hawkmoth was involved. In fact, at midnight, fairytales dissolved into reality, curses were struck, and, in his case, Hawkmoths had to be dealt with. If anything good were to come out of tonight, it would be saving Ladybug for a horrible and painful death. 

As expected, Hawkmoth waited for him at Notre Dame, except this time, she wasn't dressed up. Not that she probably didn't want to be, but because she couldn't. Without her kwami, she was powerless. 

"How did you know it was me?" Lucie asked, the first thing that came out of her mouth even as her face melted into a deep scowl. 

Adrien shrugged and hopped down from the building to be eye level with her, continuously checking behind him, just in case Lucie tried to pull a fast one on him. Not to mention that he kept looking around for Ladybug, but found her nowhere. 

"Oh please," he scoffed, "How did I not know? You're not exactly careful with your power. If I wasn't mistaken, then you actually like being flamboyantly noticeable." 

Lucie smiled smugly. "I do like to stand out, yes. It's really a shame that my mentor wouldn't let me have that other Miraculous. I think being a peacock would suit me quite well, wouldn't you think?" 

Peacock? She must have been speaking about the second Miraculous that she had available to her. Did Master Fu know who had it? If so, how come Adrien had never seen any peacock Miraculous holders? 

"I didn't come here to talk," Adrien said, getting right back on track. "I have something you want and you have something I want. Where's Ladybug?" 

"First, my kwami." Lucie snarled. 

"I don't trust you." 

"Well, I don't trust you!" 

Adrien rolled his eyes and reluctantly pulled Nooroo out of his pocket and gave him a sad, apologetic look. "Please forgive me," Adrien whispered. "I swear one day I'll make this right." 

When he handed the kwami over, Lucie snatched Nooroo over faster than his eyes could even follow. He held his breath, waiting for her to transform and attack him, but she didn't. Surprisingly, she held up her end of the bargain. 

"I'm holding Ladybug captive at the Agreste Mansion on the north side. But good luck getting past my akumas." she laughed, her purple eyes lightning up evilly. "By the time you get past them, it just might be too late." 

Without a second thought, Adrien leaped out of there and toward the home where he had grown up. How could Lucie have done this right under his father's nose? He knew that she was evil, but the mansion of all places? What reason could she possibly have to put her evil lair in the home of a disabled man rather than somewhere else? He'd simply have to figure that out later. Right now, nothing mattered more to him than saving his true love from a tragic death.


	27. Chapter 27

Marinette let out a whimper. She couldn't remember ever being in this much pain. Her fevered brain was working overtime to produce nightmares that blurred between consciousness and dreams. She could feel Tikki's body shivering next to her own, but, unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to help her kwami.

Groaning, she rolled over onto her back, staring weakly at the only light source in the room. It was growing dim outside the window, and soon that light would be gone too. Black butterflies flickered across the light, making eerie patterns on the floor.

"Tikki?" Marinette whispered, her throat felt like fire as though she hadn't had anything to drink for days. "Tikki, we have to get out of here. Are you up for transforming?"

Nodding weakly, Tikki replied, "We don't have a choice. If we stay here, we're definitely going to die."

"If I capture the akumas, we might be able to escape through the window," Marinette whispered, trying to count the swarm of black and purple wings. There were easily hundreds of them. "I can still capture more than one at a time, right?"

Tikki nodded, "Yes, but it will complete your powers much faster. We can probably only do it once."

Marinette nodded, getting unsteadily to her feet. The room swam in front of her and she clutched desperately to the wall to steady herself. She didn't want to die, she had to do this. She just had to be strong for just a little bit longer.

"Marinette," Tikki mumbled, "If we escape, you won't be able to make the antidote. Your powers will be completely depleted."

Nodding, Marinette replied, "I know. But if we do stay here, the antidote won't help us anyways. There are too many of them– they'd just pull whatever energy the antidote gave us away again." 

Tikki nodded and for the first time, Marinette noticed the bags under her kwami's eyes. She really wished that she didn't have to ask any of this of Tikki, but they had no choices left.

"Tikki spots on!" 

The transformation started out as usual, but then the aura of pink energy that usually surrounded Marinette as she transformed began skipping and fading, like a scratched DVD. Marinette gasped, closing her eyes against the pain that the transformation had caused. She could do this. She had to. 

When the transformation was complete, Marinette reeled forward, praying that she wouldn't collapse completely. She had made it this far– if she and Tikki could just make it through the window, everything would be fine... or at least that was what she hoped. 

Twirling her yo-yo in a wide circle around her, Marinette cried, "Time to de-evilize you nasty bugs!" 

As though a vacuum pulled the butterflies into the glowing yo-yo, all the akumas began spiraling towards the light. Marinette could feel herself weakening second by second, but if she could just hold on a little longer, they would be able to make it through the window. Just a little longer... 

A path just wide enough for her to slip through opened as she continued to spin the yo-yo around her, using it as a shield. Butterflies entered and the light around the yo-yo grew brighter and brighter until it hurt to look at it. 

Not giving herself any time to think about the consequences, Marinette dove for the window, crashing through it at full speed. Glass shattered all around her, cutting her face and arms through her suit. She hit the sloped roof with a loud thud, sliding sideways until she managed to gain a foothold on the gutter and stop herself. 

"No more evil doing for you," she whispered, gasping for breath as she released a stream of pure white butterflies into the air. It was beautiful and eerie to see them silhouetted against the street lamps and then the moon. 

Moaning in pain, she curled in on herself and watched the butterflies fade into the distance. 

"Bye, bye, little butterflies," she whispered, trying to stay conscious. But it was no use, she was exhausted. The last thing was remembered was feeling as though she was falling. This was all just a bad dream. She would wake up at home in a moment and it would all just be a bad dream... 

She braced herself for the painful impact of hitting concrete down below, but a pair of strong arms caught her just as the last dot on her earrings faded out. She opened her eyes and saw a pair of comforting and worried green eyes before she slipped into darkness again.


	28. Chapter 28

Adrien was panicking. 

Not just because Ladybug was unconscious in his arms, but also because her transformation was beginning to wear off. First, he saw her black ugg boots, then her black leggings, and when he started to see the beginnings of what appeared to be a red sweater dress, he forced himself to stare up at the sky instead. As much as he desperately wanted to know who Ladybug truly was underneath the mask, he knew that it was against Ladybug's wishes. To the very end, he had to respect what Ladybug wanted, he knew that this wasn't it. 

So he gently picked up Ladybug's exhausted kwami and then carefully scooped Ladybug up in his arms, cradling her like a child, forcing himself to look away from her face as he darted unseen through the darkness of the night. There appeared to be no sign of butterflies or Lucie, but even then, he couldn't be too careful. 

"Hang in there, m'lady, please," Adrien said under his breath before he finally leaped to the balcony of Master Fu's shop. Much to his surprise, it was unlocked, almost as if Master Fu was expecting his arrival. 

Sure enough, Master Fu was waiting just downstairs, leaning heavily on his cane while wearing a grave expression. 

"How is she?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing together. 

"Not good," Adrien replied, "Can you help her? When this happened to me, it was Ladybug who healed me, but I can't do what she did." 

Master Fu nodded, "I vowed never to use this antidote again, but it looks as though we must. Set her on the cushions and I'll get to work." 

Adrien hesitated, afraid to move should he accidentally find out Ladybug's identity. He had purposefully kept his eyes trained on Master Fu's movements, not glancing down for a single moment. "I haven't seen her face," Adrien said quietly, "I know that she wouldn't want it." 

Thankfully, Master Fu helped Adrien set her down on the sofa while Adrien kept his eyes dutifully closed. It was almost torturous to have Ladybug right in front of him but not be able to see who she really was. He could if he really wanted to, but just imagining Ladybug's tear-streaked face when she had discovered that he knew only furthered his resolve to look away. 

"If you could please tend to Tikki while I tend to Ladybug," Master Fu ordered and Adrien nodded, grateful for the chance to be able to help in any way he could. He cupped the small black and red kwami in his hands and took her into the other room where Master Fu had laid out a variety of sweets. If this wasn't for the kwami, then Adrien had to wonder how Master Fu had lived so long on such an unhealthy diet. 

He picked up a wafer and held it to Tikki's lips, and the poor thing ate it right out of his hands. Immediately, she regained some of her energy, but otherwise, it looked as though a good night's rest might do her more good than anything else. 

Guilt pricked at his conscience as he remembered Nooroo and how he couldn't do anything to keep the kwami away from Lucie. Next time, he'd make sure to steal Lucie's Miraculous instead.

"Thank you, Chat," Tikki said weakly. "Do you know if Ladybug is going to be alright?" 

"I don't know," Adrien whispered, "Can you tell me what happened to her?" 

Tikki nodded and when Adrien laid her against a small cluster of cushions and pillows set up nicely on the table, she began, "Hawkmoth used the moths to suck out our energy, similar to what they did to you, only over a longer period of time. We couldn't leave– we couldn't even stand up. Ladybug used the only energy she had left to capture all of the akumas and purified them so she could escape. You came just in time."

Adrien rested his chin on his arms, deep in thought as he hand-fed Tikki another cookie. Focusing on the small kwami helped him take his worried and frantic mind off of Ladybug. If she didn't survive, he didn't know what he would do with himself. He loved her so much. He'd loved her since he was fourteen years old. Nothing could ever change that. 

"Why doesn't Ladybug want me to know who she really is?" Adrien asked quietly, thinking again about how he could have seen the woman underneath the mask, but instead chose to honor Ladybug's wishes. "Am I that untrustworthy?" 

"That's not why, Chat," Tikki said softly, lifting a weak red hand up to touch Adrien's cheek. "She really wanted to tell you, but I told her not to. I thought it was too dangerous for both of you, especially with Hawkmoth's new powers posing a threat. Unfortunately, I think I was wrong. You would have been able to protect her better if you had known her true identity. Please forgive me." 

Adrien gave the kwami a sincere smile. "None of this was your fault. If anything, it's my fault. I felt complacent to give up, but I shouldn't have. I had the chance to take Lucie's Miraculous and I didn't. I only hope that Master Fu can heal her." 

As if on cue, Master Fu appeared at the doorway and Adrien instantly stood at attention. 

"Ladybug is fortunate that I was able to recreate the antidote that she gave you when you were in the hospital. With my own ancient Egyptian artifact, I was able to enhance the healing effect. She's barely conscious if you wish to see her." 

Adrien started towards the door but then hesitated, glancing back at Tikki, who was watching with wide, nervous eyes. In the end, he shook his head. 

"If she wants to show me who it is, she'll do it when she's ready. But if it's okay, I'd like to stay here just in case she needs me." 

"Very well, Chat Noir. I have several spare bedrooms available to you upstairs. If her condition changes, I'll let you know." 

Reluctantly, he transformed back into Adrien and gave Tikki one last look before heading upstairs. After all, it had to be at least two in the morning and he was exhausted. Dealing with Lucie and then worrying about Ladybug had drained too much of his energy. But now that Ladybug finally seemed to be on the mend, he could relax. 

Adrien climbed into the first bed he could find and fell right asleep. However, only a few hours passed before he bolted upright in his bed, breathing heavily as his nightmares took control. In his nightmare, he had seen Lucie stab Ladybug through the heart with a wicked looking dagger and Adrien had watched in horror as Ladybug fell and fell and fell until she smashed into the ground, all while he stood frozen to the spot. Watching Ladybug die was one of the worst things that could ever happen. 

But then he let out a breath of relief as he found himself back in Master Fu's house, lying in bed, and nothing around him falling or dying. He was safe here. Ladybug was safe here.

A sound from down below made his eyes prick up in surprise, but then he scowled when he realized that Plagg was nowhere to be seen. What was the mischievous kwami getting into this time?

Adrien slid out of bed and began walking barefoot down through the long hallway, down the stairs, until he located the source of the sound in the kitchen. Even the lights had been turned on. Wait– Plagg didn't need lights... he worked much better in the dark and it proved to be harder to catch him that way, too. Were he and Tikki causing trouble? Trouble for Master Fu was the last thing he wanted. 

He turned the corner abruptly but his scowl quickly turned into a look of surprise as he found a woman standing with her back to him, on his tiptoes as she rummaged through the fridge, her long dark hair running loose down to the small of her back. 

"Sorry!" Adrien gasped as he quickly covered his eyes with his hands. He even heard Ladybug gasp and he could only imagine the scowl on her face as she spun around to face him. "I didn't see anything, Ladybug, I swear. I thought you were Plagg causing mischief. I didn't even realize you were well enough to walk yet. I swear I didn't see anything." 

Ladybug didn't say anything for the longest time, and for a brief moment, he thought she might have left so he started edging towards the door. Unfortunately, he ran smack into the door frame with his eyes closed. It was times like these that he wished he had whiskers... 

A light, feminine laugh filled the kitchen and Adrien sighed in relief. She didn't sound mad. 

"Always the same clumsy Chat Noir," she said, and despite not being able to see her, he smiled. "Thank you for bringing me here. But why didn't you look? I didn't look away when I first found out that you were Adrien Agreste." 

"Because, Bugaboo, I couldn't stand the thought of you being upset with me. I wanted to respect your wishes. How are you feeling? I'm sure you're feline like you got ran over by a dump truck." 

She laughed again, "Something like that. I'm just glad Master Fu could work a miracle." 

Silence fell between them for a few moments, and Adrien got an incredible urge to peak between his fingers, so he decided it was time to leave. "I'll see you in the morning, then. Well later in the morning. Umm... yeah. Enjoy your snack." 

He grinned at her while starting to back away, but to his surprise, Ladybug called out after him, "Adrien, wait. I want you to know who I am." 

Adrien froze, pouring over her words again and again in his mind. Did she really just say what he thought she had said? His heart was beating excitedly at even the prospect of seeing who Ladybug was. "M'lady? I've only dreamed of you saying that to me for years. But you're not obligated to me for anything. If you want to remain a secret, I'll be okay with it." 

"No," she whispered, "I want you to know, Adrien. I need you to know. I can't live this lie any longer. Please, Kitty. Open your eyes." 

This moment felt so surreal, as if he was floating inside a dream. Never in his life had he thought that this would actually happen. He almost felt as though this were a trick, so he tried to keep his hopes down just in case. 

Very slowly, Adrien lowered his hand from his eyes, and instantaneously, his jaw dropped as he stared back at an all-too-familiar face. Right now, she looked more beautiful than ever with her hair flowing around her shoulders and her big blue eyes even bigger and bluer than he remembered, even though they stared back at him fearfully as if she felt afraid of what he thought of her. 

"Marinette?!" he squealed, and he just couldn't help himself as he launched himself forward and wrapped her in a tight embrace, spinning her around and around the room in her arms. "I'm so happy it was you! You have no idea." 

He stopped suddenly and gasped. "You are one tricky Ladybug! I made a list of everyone you could be and Marinette was one of the first names that I crossed of the list! I saw Marinette and Ladybug side by side!" 

"It was an akuma!" Marinette laughed, already looking more at ease in his presence. "I rollerbladed back in time to stop something really bad from happening, and then there were two of me. Remember that there were two Ladybug's then?" 

Adrien slapped his forehead, feeling completely dumbfounded. He had so many questions for her. There were so many things that he wanted to say to her.

He gasped again as he gazed down into her eyes, realizing something right then, but then a sly grin spread across his face as he pulled her closer so their foreheads touched and they stared into each other's eyes.

"You said you were in love with someone else, Marinette. You didn't have any feelings for Chat Noir. But then who did you have feelings for?"

A bright, rosy blush filled Marinette's cheeks as she tried to pull away from him, but he held her tight. "Kitty..." 

"Say it," he beamed, really enjoying teasing her like this. It was something completely different for both of them, but perhaps it was something that they could get used to. "Say it, Purrrincess. Otherwise, I'll never let you go." 

Her cheeks flushed even redder as he grinned triumphantly. 

"At the time, I didn't know that Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person." she finally said bashfully. "I've been in love with Adrien for about as long as you've been in love with Ladybug." 

Adrien laughed gleefully and spun Marinette around some more. He couldn't think of a time he had ever been happier in his life. His heart felt so buoyant and his feet felt as though he was dancing on a cloud. Not even giving a second thought, Adrien began showering Marinette's face with kisses but before he could kiss her lips, he pulled away uncertainty. 

"And do you still love Adrien?" he asked, hardly daring to hope. 

Marinette nodded and whispered, "Yes." 

"And what about Chat Noir?" 

She smirked, giving him a teasing look, "Chat Noir is definitely an acquired taste. But yes." 

At that moment, Adrien felt as though his heart was about to explode with happiness. The woman he loved with all his heart loved him back. Even better, that woman was Marinette. How could he be so lucky?

He lowered his mouth to hers and she met him halfway, their lips touching in the most beautiful, long-awaited kiss. Her kiss warmed him from his fingers all the way down to his toes, and in that moment, he knew exactly where he wanted to be. Even though he felt as if he could kneel down and ask her to marry him right then and there, he held himself back. There would be plenty of time to be with each other. After all, Ladybug and Marinette was his past, his present, and most definitely his future. 

When they finally broke apart, they were both smiling from ear to ear, at least until Marinette's knees collapsed on her and he had to grab her waist to keep her from crashing to the ground. 

"The kiss was that good?" Adrien teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

Marinette giggled, "You are so full of yourself, Kitty," she said, rolling her eyes as she swatted him playfully in the shoulder. "Those akumas really zapped my strength." 

Adrien picked her up bridal style and carried her over to the couch before bustling around the kitchen to get her everything she needed, including a steaming cup of hot chocolate and several cookies to snack on. In fact, he had brought a whole plate of them– he had the appetite of a horse after all.

"I love you, Mari," Adrien sighed as he snuggled up against her under a warm fuzzy blanket, both of them enjoying steaming mugs of hot chocolate. "I wish you would have told me a long time ago. Maybe then you wouldn't have left Paris." 

Marinette frowned as she absent-mindedly stirred her drink with a spoon. "I left because my heart was broken. You never noticed me during high school, and I was going to tell you during graduation, but then that girl kissed you..." 

"You and I were friends in high school," Adrien said, "Besides, I was busy pining for Miss Heartbreaker herself. I can't even count how many times you snubbed me." 

The two of them broke into laughter and then snuggled even closer to one another. "Fair enough, Kitty. I got pretty good at snubbing though, don't you think?" 

"I'd say..." 

Another happy sigh escaped him. If only Marinette knew how much she meant to him. 

After talking and snuggling for about another hour, they started drifting off to sleep in each other's arms and before Adrien fell completely asleep, he whispered into Marinette's ear, "I'm really glad it was you, m'lady." 

She smiled against his shoulder, "Me too, Kitty, me too."


	29. Chapter 29

Marinette felt deliciously warm as she drifted up through the haze of sleep that was clouding her mind. She'd had such a wonderful dream last night where Adrien had found out that she was Ladybug and he had been completely overjoyed. She couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her lips. It had been a really good dream. 

Suddenly, she felt something as light as a butterfly's wing brush her lips. Once. Twice. Three times. Opening her eyes slowly, she found herself looking back into a pair of smiling green eyes. She hastily scrambled backward, not fully comprehending what had just happened until she fell with a loud thump off the edge of the couch. Above her, she heard a rich, deep laugh. 

"I'm so sorry Marinette! I didn't mean to scare you, but that was hilarious." 

Marinette's cheeks flamed as she peeked up at Adrien over the side of the couch. Why did she always have to be so clutzy? And why did her head have to ache so much? 

"Umm... good morning," she said sheepishly. Adrien chuckled, holding out a helping hand as he lifted her up to stand beside him.

"How did you sleep, Bugaboo?" 

Bugaboo? Adrien only called Ladybug that... what was going on? She tried to shake the fog from her brain, remembering her dream from last night. Had that been real?

"Oh... my head hurts," she mumbled, "Was this what you felt like after you got poisoned?" 

Adrien nodded, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back. "It will wear off after a while. Can I get you some tea? That was really helpful for me." 

"Yeah," Marinette mumbled, massaging her head. "Thank you." 

As he stood up to go to the kitchen, Marinette reached out and grabbed his hand. She had to know. She had to know if last night was real or not. 

"Adrien... Did I tell you something last night?" 

"You mean that you're Ladybug?" Adrien chuckled, coming back over to sit by Marinette. "It's okay. I was a little out of it for the first couple days, too." 

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. So it was real. She looked down at her hands, now clasped in her lap, not wanting to see his reaction. 

"And are... are you upset? Knowing that it's me? That I'm Ladybug?" 

Adrien reached out and took both her hands in his, brushing his lips gently across her knuckles. "Why would I be upset, knowing that you're my lady?" 

Pulling her gently to her feet, Adrien kissed her slowly, sweetly, making Marinette's knees feel like they were about to give way. There were no more secrets between the two of them. It was wonderful, like they had always been made for each other. 

"Mmmm, that was nice," Marinette murmured against his chest, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him closer, seeking his warmth and steadiness. 

Adrien traced his hand up her spine then trailed in over her right shoulder, tracing her collarbone lightly, and finally curving around the side of her face. He tilted her chin up until their noses touched. 

"This is nice," he whispered, giving her a gentle kiss. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he held her tightly against his chest. Her hands snaked up to his neck, holding tightly so there was no space between them. 

"Yeah," she whispered against his lips, "This is nice too." 

All of this felt so right. Comfortable and familiar... but also electric and new. The rightness of the rhythm of their hearts beating together as one, the feel of Adrien's arms around her. 

"Marinette, I brought you my..." Master Fu trailed off as he opened the door and caught them kissing. A knowing smile played across his lips as he set a steaming cup of tea down on the coffee table. "My favorite tea. This is the best cure after you have been unwell." 

Marinette's cheeks were flaming with embarrassment, but Adrien seemed to be taking it all in stride, that is to say, better than her. 

"Thank you, Master," Adrien grinned, sliding his hand down Marinette's arm to lace his fingers with hers. "I'll make sure she drinks it."

Master Fu smiled and nodded, turning to leave. Pausing in the doorway, he turned and over his shoulder said, "As I've always said, you two were made for each other." 

Marinette sat down on the edge of the couch, quickly grabbing the tea and taking a sip of it to hide her pink cheeks. With each sip, she began to feel better and better until the pounding in her head was nothing but a distant memory. 

"What are we going to do about Lucie?" she asked, looking up only when she was certain that all traces of embarrassment had left her face. Adrien's own face had grown serious and he scratched at a day's worth of stubble on his jaw. 

"Well, if we're going to have any hope of defeating her, we're going to have to either destroy the amulet or take her Miraculous." 

Marinette nodded, "Which we can't get to because of the poisonous butterflies." 

"But maybe we can..." Adrien said, pressing his lips together in thought, "After all, I have the sneakiest kwami ever. Not to mention, he's very good at troublemaking." 

A smile spread across Marinette's face for what felt like the first time in days. "I have to say, Adrien– I have one smart kitty for a partner." 

"You definitely do," Adrien said, elbowing her teasingly. "And I don't know about you, but I'm feline pretty lucky." 

Laughing, Marinette rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "We are seriously going to need to work on your jokes. Where is Plagg, anyway?" 

"I don't know, but I do know how we can get him here." Holding up a finger, pulling pulled a piece of Camembert out of his backpack and waved it in front of the air. Like a bolt of lightning, Plagg shot out from his hiding spot and latched on to the piece of cheese in Adrien's hand. 

"Plagg, we have an assignment for you," Adrien began, but he was quickly cut off by a streak of bright red zooming over and barreling into Plagg. 

"Tikki," Plagg whined, "Get off," he grumbled as Marinette's kwami gave Tikki a bear hug. Tikki ignored him, snuggling closer. 

"It's been so long since I've seen you!" Tikki exclaimed, "Well, sober anyway. What on earth were you drinking that night?!" 

Plagg rolled his eyes, stuffing the last of the cheese into his mouth. "Marinette's uncle makes very good eggnog." 

"That doesn't mean you should drink it all!" 

"Guys, this is a very sweet reunion and all," Marinette interrupted. "But we need to talk to you guys about how we're going to defeat Lucie." 

Glancing up at her with his lamp-like green eyes, Plagg said, "Cheese first. Then we can talk." 

Adrien groaned.


	30. Chapter 30

The plan was simple– or at least it sounded simple, but it would be much harder to execute. It had been easy to steal Lucie's kwami the first time, but he was sure the second time wouldn't be so easy. The Miraculous would probably be heavily guarded now. Fortunately, with Adrien's connection with her still intact and Plagg's ability to move around unnoticed, they should be able to pull this off. Before Lucie knew what hit her, she would be without her Miraculous and Ladybug and Chat Noir will have saved the day once again. 

"Are you ever going to leave my side?" Marinette laughed as Adrien followed her back home to pass the time before they had to enact their plan. "We've been together for almost twenty-four hours already. I thought that you'd be sick of me by now." 

"Sick of you?" Adrien gasped as if offended. "I've been waiting years for this day. There's no way that I'm getting sick of you! Whether you like it or not, you'll be seeing a lot more of me in the future."

Marinette smiled and leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all, Kitty." 

When they entered into the Dupain-Cheng's home, Adrien called out, "Look who I found! Home, safe and sound." 

"Marinette!" Sabine cried as she flew around the corner and engulfed her daughter in her arms, followed closely by Tom. "Where have you been?! Your father and I have been so worried!" She smoothed down Marinette's long, silky hair in a motherly fashion. 

"An akuma got me," Marinette lied partly. "I couldn't remember how to get home and Adrien found me wandering around on the streets. But you don't need to worry. I'm okay now." 

Her parents fussed over her for at least another ten minutes before sending Marinette upstairs to shower and get dressed in fresh and clean clothes. But when she disappeared, Tom let out a yelp as he looked down at his watch. "Sabine, we have that delivery at one and we're going to be late! Adrien, please do us a huge favor. I'm going to need you to decorate the vanilla cake in the kitchen. Just a basic design in fine. Thank you tons!" 

Sabien haphazardly threw an apron over Adrien's head and thrust a piping bag into his hands, and then all became quiet in the house except for the shower running upstairs. Adrien just stared helplessly at the bag full of white frosting in his hands. What the heck was he supposed to do with this? 

"I'm Chat Noir for god's sake," Adrien muttered under his breath, now staring cluelessly at the unfrosted cake in front of him. "I'm sure I can put frosting on a cake." 

But still, he inspected the cake for a couple more minutes, spinning it around and around on the spinning platter as he tried to find the right angle to apply the frosting. White frosting on a white cake. Easy right? 

Very carefully, Adrien lowered the end of the piping bag to the cake and squirted out the smallest bit, grimacing as it smeared across the top of the cake. Not easy. What was wrong with him? This shouldn't be so hard... But still, he kept trying, doing swear after swear until the entire top of the cake looked like a white moppy mess. Apparently, Chat Noir couldn't frost a cake." 

Laughter from behind him caused him to spin around, but he quickly relaxed when he saw that it was Marinette. However, he became embarrassed to the roots of his hair when he realized that she was laughing at his horribly frosted cake. 

"Having a little bit of trouble?" she asked as she brushed past him, making him feel floaty at her touch alone. This was his Ladybug. His beautiful, incredible, Ladybug. He had fallen completely head over heels. Especially as she took the piping bag from him and took over frosting the cake. Her hands moved expertly and he found himself falling even harder for her at her graceful skill. 

"Is it really that obvious?" he laughed, his eyes sparkling humorously. "Your parents have more faith in me than they should. But I suppose if you and I are going to date, I'm going to have to learn." 

Marinette's hands slipped and she smeared the next bit of frosting across the cake at the mention, her eyes wide in surprise. "Date? As in... you mean..." 

Adrien dug inside his pockets inside his jacket until he found the blue pendant that perfectly matched Marinette's eyes, opening the box for her to see. But when he glanced back into her eyes, his confidence failing him and he became the shy Adrien that he knew all too well. The one he had tried to leave behind during high school. 

"I had wanted to give this to you after the Christmas party. Well, to Marinette, since I have to clarify these days." he chuckled but then became shy but serious at the same time. "And then I wanted to ask you if you wanted the same thing I did– to make us official." 

He held his breath, not knowing if he could bear yet another rejection from Marinette/Ladybug. After all, he had been trying for years to get her to return his feelings, but his efforts had led him nowhere. Now that he knew she loved Adrien... Maybe he could finally have his shot at being with her. Especially with no more secrets between the two of them. 

"I've been waiting forever to hear you say those words," Marinette whispered happily. 

"Not as long as I've been waiting for you to say yes," Adrien winked. And when she nodded, he just about had a heart attack. He nearly expected her to push him away with one of her delicate fingers while snubbing him, but she actually said yes. She said yes?! What kind of world was this and how hadn't he found in sooner?

Very carefully, he clasped the necklace around Marinette's neck before gazing back into her beautiful bluebell eyes. Surprising even himself, he burst into laughter and smacked his forehead with his palm. 

"I feel so stupid!" he chuckled, shaking his head. 

"About what?" she replied uncertainly while biting her lip in that cute way Adrien had always loved about Ladybug. 

"You and Ladybug have the exact same color of eyes. Not to mention that I was always attracted to both Ladybug and Marinette. But now I know why. You're the same person." He palmed his forehead once more, "I guess there's just something about you that I'm drawn to." 

Marinette smiled bashfully and was just about to open her mouth to say something when Plagg floated lazily in with a piece of cheese that hadn't come out of his backpack. 

"Adrien," the black kwami whined, "You're all out of Camembert. And I can hardly taste this mozzarella. This is an emergency!" 

With a frown, Adrien replied, "Plagg, don't steal the Dupain-Chengs' cheese. We've gone over this. Besides, I wouldn't be out of cheese if you don't eat it so much!" 

"You can try one of our cookies!" Tikki piped up. And that resulted in Plagg attempting to run away and Tikki chasing him around the house with a chocolate chip cookie in her small red hands. Adrien smiled– it was clear that the two kwamis had been friends for a long time. 

Touching his hand briefly to bring him back to the present, Marinette said, "Here, let me show you how to decorate a cake. My parents would definitely be impressed if you were able to do it on your own next time." 

"Well I definitely want to impress those parents of yours," Adrien chuckled. 

Expertly, Marinette piped frosting out of the bag so it covered the cake in a simple design before she inspected it with satisfaction. "You can put the sprinkles on," she said while handing him a small tub of rainbow colored sprinkles. "All the kids love them." 

The concentration in his expression magnified as he tried to do as Marinette instructed, albeit a little bit sloppier than he wanted it to look. But still, Marinette praised him for a job well done and ruffled his hair as if he were actually a cat. Did she even know how endearing she was? 

Setting down the tub of sprinkles, Adrien grinned and coyly rested his arm on the counter as he gazed down into her eyes. "I have something very important to tell you, m'lady," 

"What is it?" she whispered. 

Adrien leaned closer and closer to her until his lips just barely grazed her ear. "I... love... mew." 

Marinette snorted and rolled her eyes at him, pushing his face away with her hand, "You stupid cat. Will the puns never stop?" 

"Never," he snickered, but that resulted in her smearing frosting on his nose and he retaliated by smearing a bit on her lips. However, he couldn't stop himself from kissing the frosting off her skin, making Marinette's cheeks flush red. 

When Marinette's phone rang, they both jumped in surprise before she answered it. It was Alya, talking her ear off and then talking some more. To give them a little more privacy, Adrien moved over the other room and glanced around at all the family pictures. It made him happy that Marinette looked so happy growing up. To think that this girl in the pictures was his Ladybug. 

"Adrien, open the door, will you?" Marinette asked as she poked her head around the corner. "It's really important." 

He shrugged but opened the front door nonetheless. However, he immediately regretted it as a snowball came flying in his direction and the cold powder smashed into his face. Only one person had that good of an aim...

"Nino!" Adrien growled playfully as his best friend burst into laughter along with Alya, who stood by his side. "I'm so going to get you back for that!" 

Not wasting another moment, Adrien grabbed his jacket and scarf, bounding out the door with Marinette trailing after him as his partner in crime. Together, they built a fort to counteract Nino and Alya's chilly missiles and in one particular instance, Adrien was focusing hard on his enemies up ahead, not focusing on the beautiful girl who he was currently giving a piggy-back ride. However, a snowball hit the back of his shoulder, the cold seeping under his shirt. 

"Marinette!" Adrien gasped as he shook the snow out of his shirt. "I thought we were a team!" 

"Not when it's a... free for all!" 

Snowballs began flying in all directions and Adrien had to take cover to avoid being pelted from all sides. All four of them were laughing and throwing and laughing some more. Adrien aimed one snowball perfectly so is arched overhead and plummeted back down, hitting Marinette in the neck. She shrieked at the cold and he took this opportunity to burst out from his cover and pick Marinette up, throwing her over his shoulder while spinning her around and around as she giggled and shrieked. Finally, he threw her down in the snow and white-washed her. To his surprise, she just laughed and took him completely off guard by grabbing onto his scarf and pulling him down until their lips met. All his insides turned to mush as he returned the kiss, but to his dismay, Marinette used the kiss as a distraction to shove snow right back in his face. 

Adrien yelped and jumped to his feet, swiping the frigid snow off his skin, only to drive for cover once more when Nino threw another round of ammunition. The four of them continued to fight until they all fell in a heap of laughter in the snow. It had been so long since they had all been together like this. 

"Sooooo..." Alya said slyly as she turned around the face the other three, her grin widening as she looked from Marinette to Adrien then back to Marinette. "I saw you two kiss. What's the latest scoop?" 

Immediately, Adrien's ears turned bright red and when he turned to look at Marinette, her cheeks were red too, and not just from the cold. 

"Ummmm..." Marinette said, looking as flustered as he felt.

Thankfully, Adrien's watch beeped and he sighed in relief. "Mari, we've gotta go!" 

"Uh, right! We'll have to meet up with you two later!" 

"Where are you two running off to?" Alya called out after them. 

"Uh..." 

Adrien cut in for her with a quick lie, "The movies!" 

Nino grinned knowingly, "Can we come?" 

"Um, nope. It's all sold out!" 

Before the other two could say anything else, Adrien and Marinette escaped to the park, a place where no one was around before they turned into Chat Noir and Ladybug. It was still amazing to him to see Marinette change from Marinette to Ladybug right before his eyes. 

"Are you ready to kick some trash?" Adrien grinned as he flexed his fingers. He was definitely rearing to go, especially after Marinette had gotten hurt the last time. He would never allow that to happen again. 

"Adrien..." Marinette said hesitantly, averting her gaze so she wasn't looking at him anymore. "Before we do this, there's something I need to tell you." 

Why did her expression look so grave?

"Don't tell me that you're hiding another secret from me," Adrien said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. After all, they were about to head into the lair of Hawkmoth herself and he needed all the extra punny wit he could muster. 

Marinette reached out to him but recoiled her hand at the last moment, as if she didn't know whether to console him or keep her distance. "There's something you need to know about the original Hawkmoth... I know who he is. And I'm pretty sure you don't know yet."

The original Hawkmoth? How on earth could she have figured out who that really was? 

As if reading his confused, troubled mind, she answered, "I followed Lucie one night. She went to the Agreste Mansion, to your father's house." 

Adrien shrugged, "That's nothing new. She went over all the time when I wasn't there. I thought it was weird at first, but I guess she was using me and my father to stash her lair there. It definitely wouldn't noticeable that way." 

Shaking her head, Marinette gently placed her hands on Adrien's shoulders. "You don't get it. I know this will be hard for you to accept, Adrien. But your father... He's the original Hawk Moth. We never found him in the aftermath of the fight because we weren't looking for your father. Hawk Moth disappeared that night because he was in the hospital. I overheard the conversation between your father and Lucie myself. Your father admitted to it."

Adrien shook his head disbelievingly and stepped away from Marinette, his eyes wide. His father, Hawkmoth? There was no way. Adrien would have seen it. He would have known. 

"You're lying," Adrien said huskily, shaking his head again. "No. That can't be true." 

"I'm so sorry Adrien," she said softly, "But I'm not."

He squeezed his eyes shut as gravity threatened to seize him and bury him in the ground. This couldn't be the truth. It couldn't!

But then he thought back on that night three years ago, about how Hawk Moth disappeared and his father was crushed by the rubble of the fallen cathedral. Now his dad was paralyzed and if he really was Hawk Moth, then it was Adrien's fault. He did that to his own father. He crushed him and made him unable to stand. That was all his fault.

His hand flew to his mouth at the realization and suddenly he felt sick to his stomach. His father had tried to kill Adrien and Marinette countless times, and that night at the cathedral, he almost succeeded in killing Ladybug. And then Adrien had almost killed his own father. 

A tumult of emotions flowed through him from anger to sadness to disbelief to anguish, and before he knew it, his hands started to produced wispy black tendrils as his anguish got the best of him. He suddenly wanted to destroy everything in his wake, to relieve that anger and horror that started to grow inside of him. He could smash this entire park down. He could—

"Adrien!" Marinette cried, bringing him back to the present. "I'm so sorry about your dad, but you need to control yourself." 

Adrien swallowed hard but then nodded, the cataclysm in his hand disappearing as he focused on his breathing. They had a mission to complete and until it was finished, he shouldn't let anything distract him from his goal. 

He nodded to Marinette as a go-ahead. "Let's finish this once and for all."


	31. Chapter 31

As they crouched in the shadows outsides the walls of the Agreste Mansion, Marinette watched Adrien carefully. She could practically feel the anger seething around him like a physical thing, but she wasn't sure that there was anything she could do to make it better. Adrien really needed to know, she just hated the fact that she had been the one who had to tell him. Reaching out, she touched his arm gently, causing him to visibly flinch. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered, gazing up at Adrien pleadingly. "I'm so sorry about your father." 

Adrien shook his head, refusing to look at her. "It's not your fault. It's mine." 

"You had no way of knowing," Marinette protested, trying her best to defend Adrien from himself. She dropped her voice down to a whisper. "Adrien, please. You did what you had to do– you know your father wouldn't have thought twice before killing you." 

There was a tense silence between them that Marinette longed to break, but she knew that if she spoke too soon, she risked upsetting Adrien again. It was better to let him speak first. 

The silence grew and billowed around them as the minutes slowly inched by. The hairs on the back of Marinette's neck prickled with nervous anticipation. This had to work. It had to.

"This is my fault," Adrien mumbled, scuffing the toe of his sneakers against the pavement. "If I hadn't paralyzed my father, we wouldn't be trying to defeat Lucie right now." 

Marinette shook her head, touching his arm again placatingly. "You don't know that. Your father wouldn't have stopped trying until he had our Miraculouses. Who knows what might have happened? You can't let the past overcome you, Adrien." 

Adrien hesitated for a while, gazing off into space. Marinette wondered what he was thinking, how he must be feeling. It hurt her to see him hurting.

After several long minutes, Adrien took a steadying breath and plunged in. "He was never the same after Mom died. At first, I thought he couldn't stand to be around me because I reminded him of her, but now I realize that he let the grief consume him. He would have done anything to get her back, including resorting to an old ancient power that he didn't fully understand." 

Nodding, Marinette reached down and gave Adrien's hand a squeeze. Adrien looked up at her at last, his eyes bright with tears. He looked so vulnerable, so fearful, that she didn't know what to say.

"Am I like him?" 

Marinette's heart pinched as she pulled Adrien towards her, brush his cheek with a light kiss. "No! You're not like him at all. Why would you say that?" 

"Marinette," Adrien sighed, "Your powers create and heal. Mine can only hurt and destroy." 

Shaking her head, Marinette replied, "We balance each other out. You've never ever used your powers to hurt someone. You've only ever used them to protect people. Besides, without you, I'd never be able to capture the akumas. We're a team. A perfect match." 

Shrugging off her comment, Adrien released Plagg from the inside of his jacket. 

"You remember what you have to do, right?" 

"Duh," Plagg rolled his eyes. "You've only told me a hundred times. I go in there, I steal the cheese..." 

"Miraculous!" both Marinette and Adrien corrected him at the same time, causing a smile to form on the kwami's face. 

"I'm just messing with you guys. Relax."

Adrien's lips quirked as if he was about to smile but then changed his mind and shook his head. 

"We'll be back." 

Marinette nodded, pulling farther back into the shadows to wait. Adrien entered through the side gate and pushed open the front door to the mansion. 

She heard Gabriel's deep voice say, "Hello, Adrien. This is an unexpected pleasure," followed by Lucie laughing coyly at something Adrien had said. Marinette ground her teeth together. As much as she hated Lucie as Hawkmoth, she really wanted to defeat her so that Adrien could stop pretending to be in love with her. The thought of them kissing or touching made her want to gag.

Perching herself in a tree, she waited for Adrien's signal. They had agreed that Adrien would open the shutters of whichever window he was closest to partway to signal to her that it was time to attack. If the plan wasn't working, he would open them all the way. If he couldn't get to Lucie's Miraculous, they would have to think of something else. 

Marinette waited impatiently, her stomach knotting tighter and tighter as the minutes ticked by. She tried to calm herself, focusing on her breathing. But her anxiety mounted the longer that Adrien was inside. 

"Where are you, Kitty?" she whispered fearfully, chewing her bottom lip. What if Lucie decided he was too much trouble and decided to kill him for his Miraculous? What if he was dying right now?

She tried to force her thoughts in a different direction but finally gave up. Something was certainly wrong. 

She climbed down from the tree, vaulting up onto the lip of the garden wall. She could just barely make out two figures on the roof of the mansion, their voices muffled by the sounds of the night. Leaping into the air, she used her yo-yo to pull herself up onto the roof. 

Lucie's back was turned, but she could see Adrien clearly. His wrists were restrained behind his back, held there by Lucie's powerful akumas. Marinette's heart lodged in her throat. What had gone wrong? She caught Adrien's eye and gave her a subtle shake of his head. But before she could say anything, Lucie rounded on her. 

"Ah, Ladybug. You're just in time for the show." 

Marinette began spinning her yo-yo, trying her best to get between Lucie and Adrien. "Let him go. You said it yourself, he doesn't know anything." 

Lucie let out a silvery laugh that made Marinette's stomach churn. "You can cut the little act, bug. I know that Adrien is your precious Chat Noir. I caught him and his little black creature trying to steal my Miraculous. Unfortunately for them." 

Marinette glanced around to see Plagg trapped in a cage of black butterflies in a corner, cowering fearfully. Marinette felt a surge of anger, backing closer to Adrien. 

"You'll never defeat us," she snapped. "As long as there's evil in this world, good will rise up against it." 

Lucie laughed again, "Oh, I'm not going to defeat you, silly. He is." 

She turned to Adrien, surveying him up and down. Marinette's heart thumped harder as she tried to getting closer to Adrien. There was no way she was going to let this happen. 

"Negative emotions. Guilt. Daddy issues. This is perfect. Just what I need." Lucie cackled. "Anger, sadness... Burn a hole into his heart, my horrible akuma." 

"Marinette!" he barked. "Run!" 

"No!" Marinette screamed, but it was too late. The akuma landed on Adrien's ring and he began to transform. She could only watch as Adrien changed, becoming a dark version of Chat Noir, his normally vivid grass green eyes turned a violent shade of purple. When he turned to face her, there was a savage gleam in his eyes that she had never seen before. Fingers of ice trailed up her spine as his purple eyes followed her every move. 

"Adrien," Marinette whispered, backing up a step, "Please. Please, no." 

"You're the reason," Adrien snarled, "You're the reason that my father is paralyzed. It's time to even the score." 

Marinette scrambled backward as Adrien prowled closer and closer, circling like a predator preparing to strike. 

"Adrien, please!" Marinette cried, her eyes filling up with tears. "Please don't do this. I won't fight you." 

"It's too late, Ladybug," Lucie replied, a smug smile adorning her face. "Chat Blanc. Destroy her!" 

At her command, Adrien lunged, his razor-sharp claws extended. Marinette screamed, jumping from the roof and using the light post just outside the wall to swing herself away. But as she reached the bottom of her arc, Chat sprang and caught her, sending both of them tumbling down to the ground. Marinette gasped as they hit the hard earth. She kicked him in the ribs, scrambling away as fast as she could. This couldn't be happening! She couldn't hurt Adrien, this wasn't his fault! But she couldn't let him kill her either, not when Lucie needed to be stopped. 

"Come on now, Princess," Chat said in a deep, sinister voice, "Let's play." 

Fury towards Lucie bloomed in Marinette's chest. She didn't know what she was going to do, only that she wasn't going to cower like the scared little girl she'd been before becoming Ladybug. 

"Fine," she ground out between clenched teeth, "Let's play, Kitty," 

Chat growled and lunged forward. Marinette waited until he was going too fast to stop and then stepped out of the way. Adrien tried to turn, but she threw her yo-yo with all her might, trapping him in place with the string. 

"This ends now!" Lucie cried. "Finish it, Chat Blanc!" 

Using his claws, Adrien cut the ties that bound him with ease, stepping toward Adrien with a lazy, arrogant smile, which she usually would have found extremely attractive, but now she found upsetting. 

"Is that really the best you've got?" 

Marinette glared at Lucie, reminding herself who the real enemy was as Adrien taunted her. 

"You wish."


	32. Chapter 32

His will was not his own, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't control his own body. Besides that fact, true, dark thoughts filtered through his mind, seeming to erase anything else that had been there previously. In the past, when he looked at Ladybug, he saw everything good, but now that his mind felt clouded, his only desire was to destroy her. 

Adrien lashed out with his claws again but Ladybug dodged out of the way, quicker than he thought was possible. Despite his fast reflexes, she managed to dodge him again and again. However, he was a cat. Catching something that didn't want to be caught was a worthy challenge. 

"You won't be able to keep this up forever, " Adrien laughed, "If I'm not mistaken, you're still recovering from the last akuma attack." 

It was obvious that she struggled to find the energy each time as she evaded him, her breathing becoming labored and sweat lining her forehead. Unfortunately, she was still weak, and he planned to take full advantage of that. 

"This isn't you, Chat!" Ladybug cried, clutching her arm as she stood in a defensive stance as he cornered her on the rooftop. The sight of blood underneath her fingers made him pause. He had hurt her... "This isn't my kitty cat." 

"I'm not your kitty cat," Adrien spat, the darkness taking over once again, "I never was and I never will be. You made that quite clear from the beginning." 

Snow began falling down on them, making it a little bit more difficult to see his surroundings. Ladybug used this to her advantage and soon enough, she had all but disappeared. However, it was starting to get dark outside and she couldn't see in the dark. But he could. So using his cat-like vision, he honed in on her blurred movements until he found her crouching behind a crate in the gathering darkness. She looked to be completely drained of energy. 

Lucie laughed from where she stood, watching the scene unfold just feet away from her, "Get her, Chat Blanc! End this!" 

Adrien stalked forward with a malicious grin on his face, his purple eyes glowing formidably in the darkness of the night. As he walked toward her, his head glowed purple as well, instead of the normal black tendrils that came with his cataclysm power. This was it. This was the end of Ladybug. 

With one powerful sweep of his hand, Adrien completely incinerated the box that Ladybug hid behind, the sound echoing as it shattered to reveal the exhausted looking Ladybug hiding behind it. She leaped to her feet, putting a little more distance between the two of them. 

"I'm warning you!" she cried as she held up her hand as if that could keep him from getting any closer. "I'll do whatever it takes to stop you, Chat! Even if that means kissing you like I did the last time you got akumatized." 

The mention of that made him stop completely as he tried to remember the incident, a part of Adrien returning as he thought back to that moment years ago when Dark Cupid had recruited him. He didn't really remember much of that day, and he certainly didn't remember Ladybug kissing him. Ladybug had kissed him!? Why hadn't Plagg told him?!

Adrien took a step back while staking his head, trying to shake himself out of this strange reality where he desperately wanted to kill Ladybug. He couldn't do this. It wasn't right. 

"Kill her, Chat Blanc!" Lucie cried hysterically, a group of purple moths swirling around them in a flurry as if they were caught in a whirlwind of purple snow. 

"Please, Chat," Ladybug begging softly, almost as if she knew that she was starting to get through to him, past the haze in his mind. "Please don't do this. I love you." 

He frowned as he suddenly felt so confused. What was he doing here? And why on earth was he trying to kill the woman he loved? This just didn't make any sense. 

"No," Adrien said, shaking his head while trying to fight off Lucie's power. "I can't." 

Lucie's expression turned from a gleeful smile into a deep scowl. "Now look what you've done, Adrien. You've gone and ruined all my fun. No matter... I have two Miraculouses and a powerful ancient amulet. I don't need the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses to bring back the dead." 

She produced a peacock shaped brooch and placed it in her blonde hair, and right before his eyes, she transformed into a mix between Hawkmoth and a stunning peacock, the mask around her eyes turning into a mixed shade of blue and green, and it looked as if she produced beautiful feathers that trailed after her every footstep. Adrien stood watching, completely floored by the transformation– not because she took his breath away, god no, but because he had seen this before, a long, long time ago. 

Had his father truly wielded the peacock Miraculous before he was Hawkmoth? 

At the time, he thought it had just been a dream– as he had just been a kid back then– but seeing it now in person made him realize that he hadn't been dreaming. Before he turned evil, his father had been just like him... 

Lucie's eerie laugh broke him out of his reverie, and even more, as the ground began shaking beneath his feet. All Adrien had to do was peer over the side of the rooftop to see what looked like hundreds of skeletons bursting out of the earth down below, slowly climbing over the side of the mansion to get to him. The akuma inside of him warred between joining Lucie in her wicked endeavors and saving Ladybug, who looked almost too weak to stand. 

He couldn't choose. He couldn't choose. 

"I should have taken you out a long time ago, Adrien," Lucie laughed as she detached her peacock tail as it suddenly became a powerful fan. "I do hope you enjoy getting buried alive." 

In a quick movement, Lucie swung her fan and a powerful gust of wind shot out and hit him hard in the chest, so it knocked the air right out of him. He scrambled to grab hold of anything as he was blown right off the roof, but his fingers couldn't latch on to a single thing in his fall. The ground came at him faster and faster and–

And a yo-yo shot toward him, wrapping around his hand to keep him from plummeting any further to what might have been his death. Ladybug!

Using all her strength, Ladybug hauled Adrien up the side of the roof, just out of range of the skeletons who reached from him with their long, and spindly fingers, until she finally heaved him over the side of the rooftop, completely out of breath. If he wanted to, he could kill her so easily right now. 

Before he could contemplate the action any further, the ground shook yet again, knocking him right down to his knees. Nothing made sense anymore in his head, but he knew one thing for sure– Lady Hawkmoth needed to be stopped, otherwise, a lot of people would get hurt. 

With Lucie distracted by the skeletons now making an appearance on the rooftop, Adrien found an opening. However, as he left Ladybug's side, she was apprehended by some skeletons, unable to get away from them because of her depleted strength. If he didn't do something fast, then she just might get killed. 

Indecision flickered in his eyes as he glanced back and forth between Ladybug and Hawkmoth. If he didn't stop Hawkmoth, he might never be able to get another chance. 

But he would always choose Ladybug no matter what. 

Adrien could only take one step forward toward Ladybug before she shook her head, "Kitty, you know what you have to do. Don't look back. I'll be okay." 

He clenched his fists and forced himself to look away. She was right. Of course she was. She was always right. 

Giving very little thought about himself, Adrien charged forward, straight into the plume of dangerous purple moths. Their sharp wings cut his skin, but he still just batted them away with an expert swing of his staff. Finally, he reached the middle of the whirlwind and Lucie just managed to turn her head in the slightest before he tackled her to the ground, swiping at her throat with his claws. This time, she wouldn't get away. 

Lucie's moths hurtled toward him, but not before he managed to hook a claw around the ancient amulet, breaking the chain that attached it around her neck. In an instant, the plume of purple moths turned into innocent white butterflies and the skeletons froze right in their tracks as if they were statues. 

Adrien reached out and in a swift motion, cut the amulet right in half with his cataclysm power, and this time, the skeletons turned into piles of ash at his feet. It was over... It was finally over... 

He spoke too soon. 

Quicker than he thought possible, Lucie was back on her feet and had a strong hand wrapped around his throat, squeezing hard until he saw stars as she lifted him into the air. How was she so strong? 

"I'm still twice as powerful as you, Adrien, or do you forget that I hold two Miraculouses now?"

Her expression looked deadly and the intent to kill appeared clear in her eyes. 

"You don't have to do this," Adrien squeaked, clutching at her hand, but he wasn't able to make her grip budge. A droplet of blood escaped the corner of his mouth and ran down his chin. "You can do good things with your Miraculous. You don't have to use it for evil." 

Beep. Beep. Beep. 

Adrien's Miraculous flickered out, and with that, and akuma flew out of his ring too. Without the amulet's power to hold it in there, it could no longer affect him. Starting from his toes, his black boots changed into sneakers, his black clothes turned into a jean and jackets, and finally, his mask disappeared to reveal his face. Adrien should have been more concerned about hiding his identity, but he was too focused on trying to breathe. 

"That sounds a little too boring for me," Lucie grinned, throwing Adrien with superhuman strength, and when his back hit against something hard, he saw stars yet again. 

He needed to do something, but he didn't know what... Adrien couldn't transform again until Plagg regained his strength and right now... Well, Adrien was simply Adrien. He couldn't do anything special. 

Exhaustedly, Adrien reached out and his fingers clasped around a broken wooden pole. He refused to go down without fighting. 

"Really, Adrien?" Lucie smirked, "What are you going to do with that? Hit me with it?" 

Adrien did his best to stand, but his attempts led him nowhere as his shaky knees collapsed on him, making him fall back to the ground. He couldn't do this alone, and neither could Ladybug, seeing her condition several yards away from him. She looked just as bloodied and exhausted as she did. 

Giving him one last smirk, Lucie pointed her fan at him once more. "Goodbye, Adrien. Say hello to your dear mommy for me." 

Although he should have ducked away, he didn't have the energy. Instead, he just flinched and waited for the pain as the spiral of blue and purple came charging toward him. But the pain never came. Rather, he heard a cry and opened his eyes to find his father slumped on the ground in front of him, having thrown himself out of his wheelchair to take the hit for Adrien. His body convulsed as the blue and purple energy radiated throughout him, and all Adrien could do was watch with wide, horrified eyes as Gabriel produced a metal rod and pointed it straight at Lucie, a lightning bolt shooting out and striking her. She fell to the ground, the life quickly going out of her. 

"Dad!" Adrien cried as he cradled his father in his arms, sobs escaping his throat before he could even try stopping them. "Why did you... Why did you do that? Please don't die. Please." 

Gabriel smiled weakly up at him, gently touching his cheek with the tips of his fingers. "All this time... I never knew I had been fighting my own son. I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me someday."

Adrien shook his head, his tears relentlessly trailing down his cheeks. "No, I'm the one who needs your forgiveness. I would never have tried to hurt you if I knew that you were my dad the whole time. It's all my fault you ended up in a wheelchair. It's my fault you almost died." 

Another sob escaped his mouth as the realization hit him, "It's my fault that you're dying now." 

"No, it's not," Gabriel replied weakly, his hand falling limply to the ground but Adrien took it in his, willing the strength to return to his body. "I'm at fault. I never told you what happened..." He coughed, blood coming out of his mouth. "I never told you what happened to your mother."

Tears continued falling and Adrien felt helpless to stop them. 

Continuing, Gabriel said, "We were partners for years, even years after your mother gave birth to you. We were up against a ruthless enemy and your mother got hurt. I had a choice to either save her or save the city from destruction and I made the wrong choice. I'm so sorry, Adrien. I made the wrong choice."

It all made sense now. His father felt immense guilt for losing his wife, so he spent years trying to find a way to bring her back. 

"But I was still here," Adrien sniffed, "Growing up was so lonely without you," 

Silent tears fell out of the corners of Gabriel's eyes, even as his body became weaker and weaker. If only Adrien could reverse Hawkmoth's damage, he would. But he just didn't know how. 

"I know...and I'm sorry. I should have been there for you. But I had been so consumed—obsessed, even—with the possibility of bringing your mother back. I thought we could be a family again and everything would be alright when she rejoined us, but I ruined everything."

Gabriel coughed and wheezed until his body became even weaker. At that moment, Adrien felt helpless. Not even Ladybug had the power to reverse the damage done. 

"Don't go, Dad," Adrien choked, "I don't know what I'd do without you." 

"You've had that figured out for years already, my boy. Just promise me one thing." 

Adrien sniffed again, realizing that this was the last time he'd ever see his father alive. 

"Anything." 

"Promise me that you won't become like me. Your future children deserve better than that. I love you, Adrien." 

"I love you too, Dad," 

And then Gabriel released his last breath, his eyes closing peacefully. Even though he seemed peaceful at rest, it did nothing to soften the ache he felt inside his heart. He sobbed and sobbed over his father's lifeless body, and only when Marinette wrapped her arms around him did he turn into her comforting embrace and cry into her shoulder. Sure, they may have defeated Hawkmoth once and for all, but it had come at a horribly steep price. 

Marinette stroked his hair comfortingly and never let him go. "I'm so sorry, Adrien. I'm so so sorry." 

Adrien clutched onto her even tighter, seeing that she felt like the only thing keeping him afloat in that very moment in time. Marinette was his lighthouse, his partner, his other half. Without her, he didn't think he could get through the next few moments, the next few days, or even the next few weeks. After all, Ladybug was his home.


	33. Chapter 33

The hard crust of snow crunched under Marinette's boots as she walked across the cemetery lawn. Her eyes were focused on the lone figure silhouetted starkly in his black suit against the white snow. Marinette's heart pinched at the sight of the slump in Adrien's shoulders. No matter what she did, she could never make this better. Not this time. 

Nearly a week had gone by since Gabriel sacrificed himself. The funeral had been quite a quiet affair for someone so well-known in Paris. Somehow, Marinette felt Gabriel would have preferred it that way. He was at peace at last. 

She stopped next to Adrien, sliding a gloved hand into Adrien's much larger one. He gave her fingers a tight squeeze, staring down at the headstone that now bore both his parents' name. Marinette couldn't even fathom what Adrien might be feeling right now. After all, now he's lost both of his parents in December. 

"I can't believe he's gone," Adrien muttered, almost to himself. "I mean, I know that he wasn't much of a dad, but he was still my dad." 

Marinette nodded, not sure what she could say to comfort Adrien– everything that came to mind sounded hollow in her ears. She still had her whole family, Adrien had lost everything. 

"I'm sorry," she murmured, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. "I wish that I could make this better for you." 

Adrien's arms snaked around her waist, cinching her closer to him. Marinette looked up into his startlingly green eyes, gently kissing away the sadness that tugged down on his lips. 

"I'm just glad that you're here," he said, kissing her nose. "You all the family I have left, Princess." 

Marinette's heart lifted slightly at his use of her favorite term of endearment. She had almost lost the love of her life during the battle, and that memory haunted her every single day. It was worse when she slept– nightmares always managed to wake her up drenched in a cold sweat. She often had to call Adrien over, falling asleep holding onto him tightly. She had almost lost him... 

"I'm sorry," Adrien said softly, looking down at his shoes. "About what I did when I got akumatized." 

Marinette shook her head, drawing Adrien's chin up so he was looking her in the eye. 

"Even when you were akumatized, you still choose me," she whispered, tracing her fingers along his strong jaw. "You fought off the effects of the akuma for me. I don't know how you can think that that was anything but amazing." 

Adrien glanced down at his hands. "I almost killed you. I can't believe you'd really stick with me after that." 

"I'm not going anywhere," she promised. "You're stuck with me, partner." 

Adrien's mouth lifted slightly as he pulled away, holding out his fist toward her. 

"Pound it?" 

Laughing softly, Marinette bumped his knuckles with her own, "Pound it." 

Footsteps crunched behind them. Marinette and Adrien turned to see Gabriel's assistant, Nathalie, picking her way gingerly toward them. 

"Adrien, I need to speak with you," she said formally. Marinette began backing away, but Adrien caught her waist, pulling her back to his side again. 

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of Marinette. She's my partner after all." 

Marinette smiled as Adrien tipped her subtle wink. Nathalie obviously hadn't picked up on Adrien's double meaning and Marinette revealed in the fact that she and Adrien had no secrets from each other anymore. 

"Your father left everything he owned to you," Nathalie continued, flicking open a folder full of documents. "Including his fashion company, making you the owner." 

Adrien's eyes widened and he sucked in a breath. "Really?" 

Nathalie nodded, "I'll give you some time to consider what you want to do with these assets, and of course, I'm always available to advise you..." 

"I don't need to think about it," Adrien interrupted. "I know exactly what I want to do with Dad's company."

Marinette jumped slightly when Adrien spun to face her. "You've been dreaming your whole life of having a design company of your own, Marinette. I'm giving it to you."

Mind completely blank, Marinette struggled to comprehend what Adrien had just said to her. A design company of her own? Was he serious? Did he know how much his father's company was worth? 

"Adrien, I can't," she said softly, noticing that Nathalie had melted mysteriously away to give them privacy. "It's too much. I can't take the company from you." 

Adrien's hand moved to brush a strand of dark hair off her face, sending delightful chills through her body. 

"I want you to, Marinette," he said, "You mean everything to me. I love you." 

Marinette frowned thoughtfully, "I do still have to do an internship to graduate." 

"It's perfect, Marinette," Adrien grinned, his eyes lighting up mischievously. "Who better to give you credit for your internship from than the owner of the most prestigious fashion company in Paris?" 

Giggling, Marinette sighed, "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" 

"Nope," Adrien shook his head, humor dancing in his eyes. "I think you'd be a puuurfect fit for Agreste Fashions." 

Marinette rolled her eyes, holding back a laugh at his awful pun, "Are you sure?" 

"I do have one condition," Adrien said so seriously that Marinette couldn't help but wonder what it was. "You let me take you out on a proper date, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. No more secrets. No more supervillains. Just you and me and we'll give this thing between us a real chance. What do you think?" 

In answer, Marinette pulled him down by the lapels of his suit and kissed him tenderly. Adrien's mouth felt magical on hers, making her lose all sense of time and place until she just wanted to melt into his arms. 

"Yes," she whispered when they drew apart, "Definitely yes." 

∞ ∞ ∞

Marinette smoothed her dress for the hundredth time, glancing nervously at the full-length mirror across from her. Adrien had sent over a mask– red, of course, to match her dress– with a mysterious note saying that he'd pick her up at eight. 

"You look amazing, Marinette," Tikki said, swooping down to rest on Marinette's shoulder. "Adrien won't know what hit him." 

Giggling, Marinette replied, "He's seen this dress before, you know." 

"It's not the dress, silly," Tikki laughed, settling into the clutch Marinette had made to match the dress. "It's you. You're glowing. If Adrien hadn't already lost his heart to you, he definitely would tonight." 

A knock sounded on her bedroom door and her parents appeared, holding a camera, of course. Suddenly, Marinette felt like she was back in high school, about to go to prom. 

"Honey, you look wonderful," her mother sighed, "Adrien's car just pulled up. He's waiting for you downstairs." 

Marinette gathered her clutch and pulled her coat on over the top of her dress before the descending down the stairs. The moment she saw Adrien, it was all she could do not to laugh. He stood at the bottom of the stairs in a black suit with a matching black shirt and green tie, his eyes covered by a black mask. 

"I figured I could by the Chat Noir to your Ladybug," he teased, taking her hand in his. Her parents laughed, the double meaning of their outfits intended only for Marinette. Adrien took her hand and kissed her knuckles elegantly, tipping her a wink as he straightened. He looked so incredibly handsome, it was all Marinette could do not to throw herself at him. 

"Well, shall we m'lady?" he grinned, giving her hand a squeeze. Marinette nodded, but before they could leave, her mother stopped them, insisting that they pose for pictures. After about a dozen snapshots, Marinette and Adrien finally waved goodbye and got in the car. 

"Okay, Kitty," Marinette grinned, kissing Adrien's neck, right below his jaw playfully between words once they were alone in the back seat, chauffeured by Adrien's gorilla-ish bodyguard. "What's going on?" 

Adrien shook his head, giving her a mischievous glance. "And ruin the surprise? Never." 

They skimmed down the wet Paris streets toward the Eiffel Tower, which was lit up more brightly than Marinette had ever seen. Thousands of lights twinkled as Adrien helped her out of the car and let her toward the base of the structure. When they got closer, Marinette smiled when she saw Alya and Nino waiting for them. Alya wore a silky rust-colored gown and mask, while Nino stood beside her, wearing a matching tie. 

"Can you believe Adrien got us tickets to this?" Alya whispered as they climbed into the elevator. "I mean this is only the most exclusive New Year's Eve party is all of Paris!" 

Marinette glanced over at Adrien, who tipped her a wink, "Why can I say? My name a lot of weight around here." 

A laugh ran around the elevator as it slowed to a stop at the top of the tower. When the doors opened, Marinette gasped. Lights twinkled everywhere over vases of beautiful flowers. A string quartet played in one corner next to what was obviously a dance floor. Other people, some Marinette recognized– like Jagged Stone– and some that she didn't, all mingled together, sipping champagne from crystal glasses that waiters in clean white jackets passed around. 

"Wow," she breathed out before a loud squeal interrupted them. A squeal that Marinette knew all too well. 

"Adrikins! You made it!" 

Adrien grimaced, turned around to face Chloe, "Hi, Chloe." 

"You just have to dance with me, Adrien." Chloe continued, putting on her best flirtatious pout. "We would look so major out there together." 

Marinette felt herself crawling back into her shell, but she stopped herself. She wouldn't let Chloe intimidate her. Adrien seemed to read her mood and gave her fingers a squeeze. 

"Sorry, Chloe. But tonight is all about spoiling my girlfriend. I'm exclusively hers." 

Chloe's mouth fell open in an expression that made her resemble a fish out of water as Adrien gently guided Marinette away. 

"Thanks," Marinette murmured, a smile tugging on her lips. "So you're exclusively mine, huh?" 

Adrien nodded, bowing over her hand. "Yeah. So how about a dance, m'lady?" 

Marinette dipped into a curtsy punctuated by a small giggle. 

"After you, Chat Noir."


	34. Chapter 34

Adrien couldn't help but wonder how he had been so obvious for years about Ladybug's true identity. Had his love for Ladybug really blinded him to everything else around him? Could he truly not see that the Ladybug he had known for years was this spectacular woman here in his arms? 

He thought back on all the instances in the past that should have pointed to the fact that Marinette was Ladybug– both he and Marinette were often late to class, those times when she had done some fancy switcharooing when both Ladybug and Marinette had to be in the same room together, or even the times when she gave him and her friends blatant excuses that should have exposed her inability to lie well– she definitely took after her dad in that way. 

No longer did Adrien want to be oblivious to the important things and people around him. All of his heartaches could have been prevented because of it. 

"So, I have a joke for you," Adrien said mischievously as he spun his lady around on the crystalline dance floor and lowered her down into a dip. "What do you call a flying cat?" 

Marinette rolled her eyes, "This isn't going to be another one of your dumb puns, is it?" 

Adrien let out a huff. "Definitely not!" But then he snickered. "The answer is 'im-paw-sible'" He laughed at her reaction but felt glad that she always put up with him and what she thought were his lame jokes. "Oh! Here's another one! What do you get if you cross a tiger with a snowman? Frostbite!" 

"Please tell me I won't have to put up with these terrible jokes for the rest of my life," Marinette teased. "I already get enough of them from my dad." 

"I'm afraid I can make no such promises," he laughed, dipping her once more and giving her a sweet kiss. He loved the fact that he could now kiss her whenever he wanted. It may have taken many years to get to this point, but it was worth every snub along the way. 

They stopped dancing and he led her over to the window that overlooked the beautiful city of Paris. He took both her hands in his and gazed down into her beautiful eyes. He still couldn't get used to those heart-stopping eyes, which right now looked almost silver in the light. 

"I have another question for you," he said slowly, remembering Ladybug's words on the rooftop of the Agreste Mansion. "Being controlled by villains is a fuzzy business. Did you really mean what you said on the rooftop? About kissing me the last time I got controlled by the akumatized in high school..." 

A blush rose to Marinette's cheeks. "Yeah... I'm surprised that Plagg didn't tell you. I half-expected you to be gloating about it for months afterward." 

Adrien grinned. "Oh, I definitely would have gloated. Big time. But honestly? I feel a cheaped out. After all, I don't even remember our very first kiss together." 

Everyone in the room began counting down from ten. Just ten seconds until the new year began. 

"Dix! Neuf! Huit!" 

Marinette wrapped her arms around Adrien's neck, her cheeks pleasantly pink as she gazed up into his eyes. It that moment, her eyes looked as if they could be two big beautiful moons themselves. "Do you think I should remind you, then?" 

"Sep! Six! Cinq! Quatre!" 

His smile softened as he placed his hands on Marinette's hips– a perfect fit. "I really think you should." 

"Trois! Deux! Un!" 

The entire room lit up with colorful confetti, balloons, and sparklers, but all Adrien could do was focus on Marinette's soft lips against his. She was the only sparkler she ever, as she had a way of lighting up his heart in the simplest of ways. As the two of them held each other in the sweetest of kisses, Adrien couldn't help but smile into the kiss. This was the most perfect New Year's Eve he could ever ask for. 

∞ ∞ ∞

Gleeful laughter rang in the air as Alya popped open the champagne bottle, its contents spraying everywhere and nearly raining down on the guests. Months had passed by and winter melted into spring, giving Alya and Nino a beautiful, bright wedding full of an array of vivid colors from pink to purple to blue to green. To date, it was by far Adrien's favorite wedding he had attended, not just because it was his best friends getting married, but because he had someone special of his own and she was looking absolutely drop dead gorgeous in the bridesmaid gown she had designer herself for Alya's wedding. Honestly, Adrien couldn't think of a bit fit for Agreste Fashions than Marinette, especially now that the company had become much more full of life than before under her ownership. 

Adrien grinned stupidly at the thought. Little did she know that Agreste Fashions would still continue to live under the Agreste name. That was if she said yes to a very important question he'd be asking her soon. 

Soft footsteps behind him alerted him to someone's presence, but he didn't turn around. Instead, he pretended not to hear, at least until the footsteps were close enough. Then he quickly spun around and caught the perpetrator by the waist, grinning evilly down at her with a wicked glint in his eye. 

"Darn it!" Marinette cried. "There's just no sneaking up on you, is there?" 

"You can't sneak up on the black cat without him knowing first," he replied with a wink. "Better luck next time, Mari." 

Marinette laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder. "I think you've been wearing that ring for far too long. Next thing I know, you're going to start sprouting whiskers and purring!"

Adrien winced, heat rising from his cheeks, "I have done no such thing." 

Immediately, Marinette's jaw fell agape as she stared back at him. "Adrien Agreste, are you telling me that you can purr?" she gasped and then began laughing when he said nothing in return. "Oh, you can totally purr! How long have you been hiding this from me? Purr for me Kitty, please!" 

She reached up to stroke his hair and when he pushed her hand away, the battle commenced of his trying to keep her away and her trying to furiously pet his hair as if he were actually a cat. Thankfully, he was saved by the bell, or rather, the cutting of the cake.

Honestly, Adrien didn't know how anyone could possibly cut into that cake, seeing as it was probably the most beautiful cake he had ever seen in his life. Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng had really outdone themselves this time, making the cake look like a gorgeous stain glass window full of vivid colors ranging from yellows to reds to greens. The entire Dupain-Cheng family proved to be extremely creative and good at what they did. There had never been a more beautiful wedding. 

The cutting of the cake was so romantic... At least until Nino decided it would be a good idea to shove of a piece of cake into Alya's face and she retaliated by putting a glob of frosting in his hair. Of course. He shouldn't have expected anything less, but even then, Adrien couldn't stop laughing. The two of them were perfect together. 

Ironically, the new married couple had chosen a bubble send off, but at least this time it didn't involve capturing adults in bubbles and attempting to send them off into space. 

Marinette sighed happily, gently intertwining her fingers with Adrien's and resting her head on his shoulder as they watched the couple drive away. "I'm so happy for them. They've been together for about as long as I can remember." 

"It's about time, right?" Adrien laughed, but then they were interrupted as Marinette's parents approached them. 

"We're heading back home for charades and Italian sodas," Tom said, his mouth set in a wide grin as he looked from Marinette to Adrien then back to Marinette. Could he be any more subtle? Adrien should have waited to ask him for Marinette's hand because he clearly couldn't keep a secret worth crap. "Do you want to come?" 

"What do you say?" Marinette asked with a hopeful smile. 

"Definitely yes," he smiled back. "There's just something that I've gotta do first." Adrien gave Marinette one last kiss. "I'll see you soon,"

Adrien headed back to the Agreste Mansion to do the one thing that should have been done a long, long time ago. 

Walking into the study, Adrien opened the safe and smiled softly as he gazed back at his mother's picture in the frame with the peacock feather brooch fanned out just below her smile. God, he missed her so damn much. Her and Dad. Life certainly wasn't the same without the two of them, but wherever they were now, Adrien liked to think that they were together and they were happy. 

He picked up the peacock brooch as well as the moth brooch that sat right beside it, smiling softly as both Nooroo and Duusu appeared at the touch. Duusu was a beautiful green and blue kwami that seemed to be just as much work to take care of as Plagg was. Only his mother and father would have that kind of patience. 

"I told you I would make this right," Adrien said to Nooroo, cradling both kwamis in his hands. 

"I'm sorry that it ended up this way," Nooroo said, gaining some of the confidence back that he had clearly lost while in Hawkmoth's clutches. "This can't be easy." 

Adrien shook his head, closing the safe tightly behind him as he walked out of the room. "No, but Paris is at peace for now and both Ladybug and I are alive. I'm just doing my best to see the positives of the situation." 

Without further ado, he transformed into Chat Noir but before he leaped out the window, he grinned playfully down at the kwamis in his hands. "You know, I have three Miraculouses. I wonder how powerful I could be if I had Ladybug's too." 

Both Nooroo and Duusu stared back at him with wide, horrified eyes, and Adrien couldn't help but laugh at their expressions. 

"Too soon for jokes? Sorry! I couldn't help myself." 

The kwamis relaxed but still looked a little unsure. After all, it was Adrien's father's life mission to bring back his wife from the dead. How could they know that Adrien had no intention of doing the same thing? 

When Adrien landed on the balcony of Master Fu's shop, he helped himself inside and, like always, Master Fu was patiently waiting for him, sitting cross-legged on a pillow while drinking a cup of steaming hot tea. He looked at peace, as if all his troubles had melted away and left nothing but a ray of blissful sunshine. 

"I've been expecting you," 

Adrien nodded and set the two Miraculouses on the small table between them. "I believe these have been at the Agreste Mansion for far too long now. They're yours." 

To his surprise, Master Fu shook his head slowly and grunted as he used his cane to haul himself to his feet. "They do not belong to me, Chat Noir, just as my Miraculous doesn't belong to me, but to the aid of keeping humanity in balance. That is one mistake your father made. He kept two Miraculouses to himself despite knowing that doing so would upset the balance. You were wise to bring them back to me."

Master Fu crossed the room and unlocked a cabinet, pulling out an octagonal box. As he placed the remaining Miraculouses inside, the kwamis disappeared with them. Now instead of five missing from the box, there were only three, and thankfully, Adrien knew exactly where each of them was, and he knew that they were in capable hands. 

"There is... also another matter I wish to discuss." 

A frown pulled at the corners of Adrien's mouth, think that Master Fu wished to speak about what happened that fateful night. But to his surprise, he said nothing about it. 

"It may not look like it, but I am getting old," Master Fu chuckled, leaning heavily on his cane. "I have called another guardian to take my place when the time comes and I've been mentoring him for months now. He will take over my shop and everything in it. I trust him with my life, as I trust you and Ladybug to do what is necessary to keep Paris safe."

This news surprised him. A new Master Fu? Sure, it had to happen sometime, but for some reason, Adrien never saw it coming. 

"Who have you chosen?" Adrien asked curiously. 

Master Fu smiled. "He has important things to attend to tonight, but I asked him to stop by before leaving on his honeymoon. He should be here any second now." 

As if on cue, a man dressed in a nice suit walked in and he and Adrien– as Chat Noir– just stared back at each other with wide eyes. Nino!? Nino was the new Master Fu!?

"I can't believe it!" Nino squealed, his eyes lighting up happily as he pressed his fists to his mouth. "It's the real Chat Noir! In the flesh!" 

Master Fu sighed and shook his head disappointedly. "I told you not to fanboy over my Miraculous Holders." then, he muttered, "I could have sworn we went over this." 

Adrien's mouth still hit the floor as he stared back at his best friend. Out of all the people in Paris, Master Fu chose him? Did Alya know? Did Marinette know? Why was he still freaking out inside? 

"Nino?" Adrien finally gasped, glancing over at Master Fu. "Wha– How–?" 

"I spent a long time choosing who will take my place," Master Fu replied calmly, taking the situation in stride. "I refuse to have another repeat of what happened with Hawk Moth, and quite frankly, I'm losing time every single day. Nino is a bright pupil and I know he will help guide you and heal you as your journey progresses."

"Does he know who I am? Or Ladybug?" 

Master Fu smiled. "Perhaps in due time when he's ready." 

"This is so awesome!" Nino breathed, ogling at Adrien. If Ladybug were here with him, Adrien imagined that Nino would probably faint. "I wish that I could tell Alya," 

Again, Master Fu smiled, "All in due time, Trixx is in due need of a holder. Now get. I believe your new wife is waiting for you." 

"So cool!" Nino said under his breath as he left the shop, Adrien still staring dumbfoundedly after him. His best friend was the new turtle, or at least he would be. He still couldn't process it in his brain. 

"Do I have to call him Master Nino?" Adrien finally asked, wrinkling his nose, making Master Fu laugh. 

"For now, he is just Jade Turtle. I know you will work well together alongside Ladybug. Now if you'll excuse me, these old bones need some rest." Master Fu started walking away but turned around just enough to say, "Thank you for bringing Nooroo and Duusu home. We are all forever in yours and Ladybug's debt."

Adrien nodded, "Their safe return was long overdue." 

Smiling, Master Fu turned around once more so Adrien could see his face, "Far overdue. I'm proud of you, Chat Noir." 

Although Master Fu left the room with those words lingering in the air, Adrien couldn't stop the rush of emotions that surged through him. Those words meant far more to him than Master Fu would ever know.


	35. Chapter 35

The weeks flew by in blissful oblivion for Marinette. She was busy with work at her new company, going on dates with Adrien, fighting crime with her partner, and lots of laughter. There was always laughter when they were together. Spring blossomed over Paris gradually at first, the warm breeze replacing the bite of winter in the air. 

Marinette stood at her design table, pursing her lips as she studied the sketches of her most recent creation closely. The dress had taken shape almost of its own accord, the panels of the skirt sweeping like peacock feathers in jewel tones– bright blues and greens. 

Behind her, the bustle of the office sounded like surf on the beach, but it always had a soothing effect on her as she sketched beneath the big windows of had once been Gabriel Agreste's workplace. 

"Hey, Bugaboo," Adrien teased, covering her eyes with his hands. "Guess who?" 

Marinette chuckled softly, "Ummm... Chat Noir?" 

Adrien spun her around, planting a kiss on her lips. "No. But I'm flattered that you confused me with such a devilishly handsome, charismatic dude." 

Swatting his arm playfully, Marinette rolled her eyes, "Very funny." 

"You love it, you know you do," Adrien grinned, squeezing her hand. "You ready?" 

Marinette nodded, setting down her pencils. Adrien often stopped by her office on his way home to pick her up, and it usually involved getting dinner. That, or fighting crime. There was a lot of that too. 

"So, how do you feel about something fancy tonight?" Adrien asked as they strolled down the Champs-Élyées, looking in all the store windows. Marinette grinned as she recognized one of her designs in a high-end boutique. She couldn't believe this was her life. It felt like a dream. 

"Look!" she exclaimed happily, pointing it out to Adrien. "That's one of my designs! Can you believe that?"

Adrien smiled, kissing the top of her head. "I absolutely can. I always knew you'd be fantastic, Mari," 

Marinette stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him sweetly, wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt him smile into the kiss and lifted her eyes to his. 

"You didn't answer my question," he teased. "And I refuse to get sidetracked again." 

Laughing, Marinette slid her hand into his and they continued walking. "Whatever you want is fine by me." 

"Good," Adrien nodded, "Because I want to make this a special evening with my special girl." 

They continued walking until Adrien guided her into the Pur' - Jean-François Rouquette, one of the fanciest restaurants in all of Paris. Marinette tried not to feel out of place as she stared at the ornate walls and crisp white tablecloths. But Adrien just smiled and took her hand as the maître d' led them to a table. 

"Do you remember our first date?" Marinette asked slyly, peeking up at Adrien over her menu. He was so handsome, she felt so incredibly lucky that the man she had been in love with all her life loved her too. 

"How could I forget?" Adrien laughed, "I was so nervous!" 

Marinette felt her cheeks pinken slightly. "Really? I never knew that! I thought I was the only one. You're always so confident." 

"Nah," Adrien laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "You just bring out the best in me. Which is amazing because I've dated a lot of girls..." 

Adrien seemed to realize he was rambling as Marinette arched an eyebrow at him. 

"Well, actually it's only two. Anyway, that's not important. Let me try that again." 

He reached across the table and knocked over the candle, which promptly set Marinette's napkin on fire. Reacting on instinct, she dumped her glass of water on it and the flames quickly died out. 

Adrien was looking steadily at the table, his ears turning bright red until Marinette began to giggle. Soon her laughter infected Adrien as well and he began laughing too, in a self-deprecating way. 

"I'm sorry I'm not myself tonight." he smiled, taking her hand. "Marinette, you look beautiful tonight!"

Marinette suppressed an urge to laugh again as Adrien visibly cringed at how loud his voice was in the quiet restaurant.

"Sorry, that was loud," he grimaced, shaking his head with a rueful smile. "This is a disaster." 

Marinette shook her head, her heartwarming at how hard he was trying. "No, I think that it's cute." 

Adrien took his hand, gazing earnestly into his eyes, "Marinette, I..." 

At that moment, a rumble sounded outside the restaurant and several people ran screaming from a bank opposite the restaurant where a blast had blown that glass out of the windows. Papers fluttered everywhere and Marinette could see the safe door hanging off its hinges.

A man wearing a mask came charging out of the bank carrying two large bags of money that bulged until the seams looked like they were about to split. What was even weirder was that he made straight for a hot air balloon that landed right in the middle of the street. 

In perfect sync, Marinette and Adrien darted out the door into an alley and transformed, running toward the hot air balloon as a second man released the weights holding it to the ground and it began to rise. 

"Come on!" Marinette cried, looping her yo-yo around one of the cables and swinging them both up to the basket so that she landed in front of the men and Adrien landed behind him. The two men turned menacing stares on her, each reaching for a weapon. 

"You didn't honestly think this was going to work, did you?" Adrien asked as they realized that he had already taken their weapons. "I mean, this is probably the slowest getaway vehicle ever. Not such a puuurrfect plan if you ask me." 

One man dove for Adrien while the other one went for Marinette. She dodged his blow but he managed to grab her wrist, forcing her closer and closer to the edge of the basket. Marinette's stomach churned as she saw just how far away the ground had gotten. They had to defeat these men here. 

Driving her head forward, she rammed it into her attacker's nose before seizing a length of rope and tying him up while he was still doubled over. Turning, she was just in time to see Adrien use one of the ropes tied to the balloon to swing himself around and kick the other man in the face, rendering him unconscious. He was almost back in the basket when the rope he was holding onto snapped.

Marinette's heart jackhammered against her ribs as she ran to the side of the basket and caught hold of Adrien's hands. She strained with all her might to pull him up, but she couldn't do it. 

"Tie him up!" Adrien called. "Otherwise he'll attack us again when he wakes up." 

Shaking her head, Marinette struggled to hold on. "No way! I can't let go of you!" 

"You have to, m'lady," Adrien said coaxingly. "Someone has to land this thing." 

Marinette shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. Adrien's gaze softened as she choked on tears. "I can't, Adrien. I can't." 

"Trust me, Mari," Adrien replied with a grunt. "I'll be fine. Cats always land on their feet, remember?" 

Marinette laughed hysterically, tears streaming down her face. But her laugh quickly turned in a shriek of terror as Adrien let go and she felt his hands sliding out of hers. 

"I love you," he said as his fingers finally squeezed out of her grasp and he began to fall. 

"No!" she shrieked as the balloon nearly smashed into a particularly large building. Pulling on the cord that lit the fire with all her might, they just barely cleared the building as Marinette sobbed, looking wildly around for Adrien. When she couldn't find him, her tears fell faster and harder. 

"I love you too," she whispered, "I love so so much." 

Wiping her eyes, she turned to give the balloon more height when she heard someone speak behind her. 

"So you did hear me."

Marinette whirled around to find Adrien leaning cockily against the edge of the basket, grinning at her. Marinette gasped, flying into his arms and burying her face in his chest. 

"But you fell..." she said in disbelief, staring up at him. Adrien smiled, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. 

"I told you, cats always land on their feet." 

Marinette laughed, swatting him a little harder than she meant to before grabbing his bell and drawing him into a kiss. She was so relieved. Adrien was alright. He was here, he was safe. 

"Let's drop these two off, shall we?" Adrien grinned and Marinette noticed that the balloon had floated right over the police station roof. With a nod, Marinette helped him push the two men out, lowering them down on her yo-yo string with the money into the waiting arms of several police officers.

"What about the balloon?" Marinette asked, glancing up at the rainbow of silk fluttering above them. Adrien shrugged, pulling the chain so that the fire burned again. 

"Nice night for a ride, don't you think?" 

Laughing, Marinette drew closer to Adrien as the hot air balloon floated over Paris. The sun was setting, bathing the city in a rosy glow. 

"Wow," Marinette whispered as they floated closer to the Eiffel Tower. The tower was lit like a beacon in the setting sun, dazzlingly golden in color. "It's beautiful." 

"Yeah," Adrien smiled, taking her hand in his, "You definitely are." 

Marinette turned to face him but he surprised her by getting down on one knee right in the basket. 

"I was going to do this at the restaurant, but this is better," he said, his green eyes finding hers. "I love you Marinette. I always have. You're my partner and my best friend and I never want to be apart from you again."

Adrien held out a box with a ring, one large diamond surrounded by four smaller peridots nestled in blue velvet. Marinette's heart began fluttering wildly in her chest as though thousands of butterflies had suddenly awoken inside her. Adrien was perfect, he was absolutely perfect for her in every way.

"They match your eyes," Marinette whispered, a hand over her mouth as she pointed to the peridots. 

"What do you say? Will you be my lady forever?" 

Flinging her arms around him, Marinette covered his face with kisses, even the parts that were covered by his mask. 

"That sounds paw-sitively purrfect to me, Kitty."


	36. Epilogue

The day couldn't have been any more perfect. The venue was perfect. The decorations were perfect. The weather was absolutely perfect. Their Parisian outdoor wedding felt like a fairytale that anyone would be envious of. However, the day was feeling a little too perfect as Adrien stood in front of a full-length mirror, staring back at himself. Happiness radiated in his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of that underlying worry. In less than an hour, he'd be watching the love of his life walk down the aisle toward him. But Paris always took precedence over everything else in his life. If something bad happened or if someone happened to get akumatized by some awful twist of fate– even after Adrien had returned the Miraculous to Master Fu– then the entire wedding could be ruined. He couldn't do that to Marinette. They had waited far too long for this moment. 

Adrien began pacing back and forth in the small room, biting his nails when even the pacing didn't do much to calm his nerves.

"Oh, calm do, will ya?" Plagg said sleepily as he poked his black head out of Adrien's perfectly fitted tuxedo. "I'm trying to sleep here and you're not making it any easier on me." 

With a sigh, Adrien stopped pacing but the crease between his brows never disappeared. "Sorry, Plagg. It's just that I've waited years and years to be with My Lady. What if the universe won't let us be together? What if something goes wrong? What if—"

"You're so needy sometimes, you know that?" 

Adrien gave him a scowl. "You're one to talk." 

"Look, kid. You're just going to sabotage your big day if you keep worrying. Why don't you go see Your Lady? That always makes you feel better."

Immediately, Adrien straightened up as a flash of excitement appeared in his eyes, but he immediately pushed it down. Nope, nope, nope. Marinette would kill him if he saw her in her wedding dress before they were married. But... What if he just took a little peek? It wouldn't hurt anybody, would it?

Although he really shouldn't have considered it, he pushed away from the flicker of guilt in his heart before he held out a fist, a determined look in his eyes. "Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg seemed all too eager to have something to do as he leaped into Adrien's ring, turning Adrien from a nervous groom into a confident black cat. As Chat Noir, he threw the window open and jumped out, carefully scaling the rooftop, so as not to be seen. It didn't take long before he found Marinette's bridal room and dropped down onto the balcony. When he threw the double doors open, Marinette shrieked in surprise, but instantly her expression melted into relief upon seeing him. She looked stunningly beautiful in the dress she made herself. The lacy off-white material was accented by a pure white satin belt tied in a little bow, accentuating her tiny waist and offsetting the pink flowers holding in hair in a beautiful braided style. Adrien couldn't breathe for a few moments as he stared back at his future bride in awe. 

"I thought you'd never show up," Marinette whispered, flying into his arms, and before he could stop it, the nervousness both of them felt turned into passion. He picked her up in his arms and pinned her against the wall as she managed to straddle his waist with her legs, even in an extremely large and poofy ballgown. They kissed again and again and again, melting into each other's embrace as the love between them sparked passion. Adrien loved her so much. He couldn't even fathom the thought of not being in her life anymore. They were made for each other. They–

"I found it!" Alya yelled as she burst frantically into the room, holding a bouquet of pink, white, and green flowers, but as soon as she laid eyes on them, her jaw dropped and seemingly hit the floor. "Mari– What– How–"

They were in a whole lot of trouble.

Both Marinette and Adrien stared back at her like a doe in the headlights, their expressions just as surprised and shocked as hers, and it wasn't until a few moments later that Adrien realized that he was still in his Chat Noir transformation.

Adrien set Marinette back down on her feet and grimaced, running an embarrassed hand behind his neck. How could they get out of this one?

"It's not what it looks like!" Marinette cried out, the first one to break the stunned silence. 

"What would Adrien think?!" Alya yelled, her wide eyes darting back and forth between Marinette and Chat. "You're cheating on Adrien with Chat Noir? Honestly, what would Adrien think?!"

"Yeah, what would Adrien think?" Chat Noir exclaimed, but all too quickly, Marinette lashed out at him with the nearest thing she could reach—which happened to be a book—smacking him hard in the shoulder. "Ow!"

"Adrien's going to think that he should have brought an ice pack if he doesn't shut up soon!" 

"Hey! Don't pin this on me! Not on our wedding day!" Adrien exclaimed. 

Again, Alya's jaw dropped as she stared back at Chat, looking as if she just might faint at any second. "Adrien? Chat, you're Adrien?" 

"Well, the cat's out of the bag," Chat laughed, jumping up on the railing out on the balcony and saluting to a flustered looking Marinette. "I love you, M'lady. I can't wait to see you in a few minutes."

Marinette's fluster became replaced by a soft, sweet smile as she gave him a small, cutesy wave, and the last thing he heard before jumping back onto the roof was Alya screaming happily demanding that Marinette tell her everything. Well... there goes that secret. But she was bound to find out sooner or later, especially because her husband, Nino, was training to be the new Miraculous safe holder. Marinette should probably be thanking him. Now they didn't have to keep lying to their best friends all the time. 

Transforming back into Adrien, he confidently opened the door to his room and strode out to meet Nino and their many guests outside, now feeling so much better after seeing Marinette, even just for a few minutes.

"You're not going to pass out on me, are you?" Nino joked, smoothing out Adrien's crinkled tux. 

Adrien snorted with laughter and rolled his eyes. "You mean like how you did on your wedding day? Honestly, you're lucky I had such fast reflexes, otherwise, you would have made an even bigger fool of yourself than you already did."

"Oh, haha" Nino replied, an amused glint in his eyes. "Alya never fails to bring it up every chance she gets." 

They quieted as the music began to play, and simultaneously, Adrien's heart leaped into his throat in anticipation. He watched eagerly from his place at the front as the flower girl came down the aisle, followed by Marinette's bridesmaids, and finally, a flash of white came into view as Marinette made her entrance, holding onto her emotional father's arm. All over again, Adrien completely lost his breath at the very sight of his lady. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life and he couldn't believe that he was about to marry her. This really was the best, happiest day of his entire life. 

His eyes watered slightly as Tom kissed his daughter's cheek and handed her over to Adrien, and when Adrien took both her hands, it took all his might not to become even more choked up. He really couldn't be happier as the two of them smiled back at each other and held tightly onto one another's hands.

The ceremony commenced and the entire time, Adrien couldn't look away from Marinette's beautiful eyes. These were the same eyes he had fallen in love with years and years ago when he only knew her as Ladybug. They were the same eyes of the woman who laughed with him, who cried with him, who fought with him, who loved him. They were the eyes that he felt so lucky that he got to gaze back into for the rest of his life.

"Now," the priest said, "this couple has chosen to write their own vows, Mr. Agreste, would you like to begin?" 

Adrien began reciting his vows, "I wish I could stand up here and promise you the world, but the world isn't mine to give. What I do promise is my world and all it entails. My love, support, passion, compassion, and enthusiasm. I wish I could promise smooth sailing, but the winds aren't mine to control. What I do promise is a ship built to carry you to safely, and sails to weather any storm. I wish I could promise you forever, but someone infinitely great than I already has. What I do promise is every second of this time sliver of eternity I've been blessed with. I wish I could promise you riches, but every vault has its end. What I do promise you is a life of abundance—And abundance of love and support, of strength and vulnerability, of sharing and drive, of passion, and of adventure. I wish I could promise to always be as roguishly handsome as I am today, but, well ... On second thought, have you seen my dad? Maybe that's a promise I can keep. I can't even promise I'll never hurt you, because even the best of intentions sometimes fall short. What I do promise is to always reach for you over my pride; to hold you, to heal you, and to seek forgiveness."

Marinette smiled at him through teary eyes, "Millions of people around the world spend a lot of their time finding that one special person to be called their true love. Some are lucky to find the person they want to call as their significant other while others spend the rest of their lives looking for that true love but never finding it. I count myself as among the lucky ones to have finally found you and I love you. I've always been in love with you. We're gonna have the best life, you and me. We're gonna be so happy. We're supposed to end up together. We're meant to be. I love you."

Adrien's face beamed with happiness as he gazed back into Marinette's beautiful bluebell eyes. It was at that moment that he saw forever. At that moment, he knew that his parents– although gone from this world– were watching him from above. Marinette was his forever and he'd never pass up an opportunity to show her just how much he loved her. 

Adrien dipped her low and leaned in enticingly close, his mischievous grin coming out to play as he gazed back into her eyes. "You look pawww-sitively radiant today, My Lady."

Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and kiss me already, Kitty."

She grabbed him by the tie and pulled him close, their lips meeting and the world instantly melting away. All the cheers, the whistles, and the clapping disappeared as he kissed his sweetheart, feeling like the luckiest kitty in the world. With his new wife by his side, the two of them would make one unstoppable team.


End file.
